Sacrifice of a Lugia
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: When a young Lugia is caoptured by an unscrupulous trader, his maternal parent must make a difficult choice. In the meantime, Lawrence III anbd his friend Cyril are about to find their lives will intersect with two very different girls.
1. Lu

Chapter One

Lu.

Lu, the baby Lugia, liked going to the surface. He liked to lie with just the top of his head and eyes above the water, and watch the two-legged wingless ones his parents called 'humans' doing whatever it was humans did. Humans fascinated him for some reason he could not explain. He liked them, a sentiment his parents positively encouraged. "We are guardians for the entire planet, Lu, and that includes humans. The ones of the nearby island respect us as such. Humans are not as much in tune with the rest of nature as are Pokémon, but they _are_ part of nature." They had warned him also about the danger humans could pose. His father had told him about his own near capture by the terrible Lawrence the Third almost a year ago. Lu hoped to never meet this fierce collector.

Lu swam slowly up, peered out, and saw that the island was pretty deserted, so he headed slowly for the Slowking's Shrine, His parents knew nothing of these visits to the big island. His parents had said the humans respected Lugia there, so he figured he should be pretty safe even if he were spotted. However, he was careful to check there was no activity in the vicinity before approaching or going ashore.

Observing from the water had been interesting on occasions, and at odd times he'd followed the fishing boats, at a safe distance, and was careful not to get caught in their nets. These had become routine, however, but then a different boat had caught his attention about 2 weeks previously.

It had contained two humans, and what appeared to be one bird-human and a blue bird. Lu would have gone closer, but was worried about the people on the deck. They seemed to be in charge of the bird and bird-girl, ordering them both at different times to fly, and the bird-girl at other times to dive into the water. Unable to restrain his curiosity any longer, Lu had swum over and swam by her. She had almost choked upon seeing him, gesturing a need to return to the surface before swimming upwards for air, so he swam off to avoid disturbing her further.

Climbing out, Lu carefully made his way up the steps to the Slowking's Shrine. He liked coming up here, particularly at sunset and sunrise. A slight feeling of unease made Lu stop, but it was forgotten as he saw a Butterfree fly over to some flowers. He followed it cautiously, and watched it, wide-eyed and curious. It was joined by another, which he also watched. When he tired of watching them, he turned his attention to the carvings beneath his feet.

They looked interesting, the carvings. They were grouped in rows, and he thought he could discern some pattern to them. He was so engrossed that he did not notice how high in the sky the sun was getting. Nor did he notice the figure that saw him, and approached stealthily from behind.

Lu's studies were rudely interrupted as something dark and heavy fell upon him. Lu reared, trying to raise his wings, but then something else heavy landed upon him, pinning him down. He felt the cloth on him wrapped about him, and felt pressure as a rope was wrapped about it. He cried out, tried to aeroblast, but found the covering was wrapped too tightly about his mouth. He could just about breathe, one nostril was still exposed to the air. He struggled, panicked, but the covering was bound too tightly about him to move much. He heard huffing and grunting, and felt himself being dragged. Then he felt himself pushed onto another surface, which then began to move.

After a while, the motion stopped, and he was rolled off the surface. A voice, a human voice, spoke.

"I don't know whether you can understand me, Pokémon, but if you can, listen well. I'll cut the ropes binding the tarpaulin to you so you can get out. Any resistance will be punished. If you attempt to struggle or escape, I will restrain you by putting you in my force-field."

Lu shuddered, remembering what his father had told him. Lawrence the Third had tried to imprison his father in force-fields. Lu's nightmare had happened. He must have been caught by the terrible Lawrence the Third!

The binding loosened, and he pushed against it. The tarpaulin slithered off easily, and he looked up for the first view of his captor. A dark-haired man with a beard stood looking down at him. His skin was darker than some of the islanders he'd seen at a distance. He took in his surroundings. He was in a cage, with a bowl of unappetising looking brown stuff, a bowl of water, and a sandbox. That was all.

Except for the other occupant of the cage, who ran over to him with a cry of dismay, embracing his neck. It was the bird-girl he'd startled two weeks previously. He could feel she had hands under her wings, could feel them patting and caressing his neck.

**Hello?** he psychically addressed her.

**Small Guardian, hello. **the bird-girl replied**. I'm sorry you've been caught. Are you okay?**

**I want my mum. **Lu said, his heart beginning to ache. **I want to go home. **Lu ached to dive back into the sea, to go to their underwater (but air-filled) cave, to snuggle under his mum's wing and feel secure. He raised his head and sang a single low, unhappy note.

"Very nice." said the man. "I owe a friend of mine a big favour, and you two can be it. He's wanted a Lugia since last year. Sing a bit for him when he comes in." Then Lu heard a very welcome psychic 'voice' calling his name.

**Lu, where are you? Are you all right?**

**Mum! ** he 'called' in relief. His mum would sort this out! **I've been caught by Lawrence the Third!**

**WHAT! Hold on, Lu, I'm going to get your father! We'll find a way to get you out! **His mother broke off abruptly.

**It's all right! **said Lu to the bird-girl.** Mum's been talking to me, and she's going to talk to Dad. He'll save us from Lawrence the Third! **

**Lawrence the Third? Where? He promised not to endanger the birds or a Lugia again! **the bird-girl asked.

**The man who's captured us. ** Lu said.

"**He's not Lawrence the Third, he's a different man. I met Lawrence the Third last year, and that's not him! ** the girl said. **My name's Rachel. Do you have a name I can call you, little Guardian?**

**Lu. I'm called Lu.** he said. Just then, his mother made contact again.

**Lu, I'm going to talk to the man holding you. We've pinpointed where you're being held. Whoever's holding you, it's not Lawrence the Third, it's someone else. We would aeroblast the structure, but we're scared of hurting you, or anything else in there. Hold on, Lu!**

Mrs Lugia, out in the ocean, directed her thoughts to Lu's captor.

**Please, you have my son captive, the small Lugia. He will be very important to the harmony of the world, and we miss him very much. Please let him come back to me!**

**Why should I? **replied the man. **I need a Lugia to pay back a debt I owe my friend, and it is a Lugia and a Lugia-girl he will get. I'm sure your son can return to you once my friend has tired of him, if he ever does, or has lived his life and died. Of course, Cyril's as healthy as a horse, so that will be in several decades, but surely a Lugia has a longer span of life than a human does?**

**He's only a child! **pleaded Mrs Lugia.

**Yes, that could be a problem. **the man said.** Cyril will no doubt be disappointed and expecting something larger, but if I explain the situation he will understand, I'm sure. He will grow.**

Mrs Lugia found herself in a dilemma. She knew she had to get Lu free, but she could only think of one way, in the face of the man's stubbornness. She had a brief argument with her mate about it, and fiercely made him see her point of view. Then she spoke to the man, being very careful not to let Lu hear.

**You say your friend wants a Lugia, but you're worried he might be disappointed at the size? Your friend wants a Lugia, I want my son free. Will you let him go if I take his place?**

There was a long silence from the man. Then he said

**You would come in his place, to be given to my friend?**

**Yes. **said Mrs Lugia.

**Why should I believe you?**

**I'm a mother. I would do anything for my son. **she replied.

Back in the man's hut, the man took a gun, the type used for firing radio transmitters into the blubber of whales. He brought it over and opened the cage containing Lu and Rachel. Grabbing for Lu's tail, he put the gun muzzle on it just below the junction between the back and tail, and fired.

Lu let out an unmusical bellow and shot across the cage. He turned, with pain in his eyes, to lick his tail, which was now bleeding.

**Lu!** 'called' the mother, who had heard that bellow. **What happened!.**

**He hurt my tail! **Lu cried.

**I've just put a radio transmitter in him, that's all, it won't kill him. I've decided to accept your offer. **the man said to Mrs Lugia.

**And you won't catch Lu again? You won't go after him once I've gone with you? **Mrs Lugia asked.

**You be quiet! **said the man to her. **I call the shots from now. Your son now has a radio transmitter embedded within him. If I wanted, I could find out where he was, at any time, and capture him. Whether I do or not depends on you.**

**What must I do to ensure you don't? **Mrs Lugia asked.

**Several things. You do not resist me. When I give you to my friend, you do not resist him. You do not attempt to escape. You do as I say, and you do as he says. I am warning you, if you resist me, or I hear later from my friend that you have escaped, I will go after him.**

**Okay, I promise to do as you have asked. **said Mrs Lugia.** Please, let him go, and I will come to you.**

**If you renege on your agreement, I will come after him, I will also hunt him down if you later take revenge. **he said.** That applies to any Lugia! **

Mrs Lugia quickly relayed this to her mate so that he wouldn't aeroblast the man, or attempt a rescue after she'd been given to the man's friend.

**Okay. **said Mrs Lugia.

The man went over to the cage with Rachel and Lu in. He opened the cage door, and pointed at Lu. "Out." He said. "You're going home!" As Lu cautiously came out, Rachel gave the man a querying look. "No, you stay there." he said. Once Lu had gone out, he closed the cage door, and opened the door of his hut. Lu looked back at Rachel.

**We'll come back for you! Don't worry!** he said. Then he shot out of the door as though Lawrence the Third was after him.

On the beach, shaking off the excess water, stood his mother. He raced over, and clasped her body with his wings. **Mum!** he said. She lowered her head, and they stroked cheeks and twined necks. She closed her wings over him, gave him a loving squeeze, then let go.

**Lu, go home, your father is waiting for you. You will need to rest that tail for a few days. **Mrs Lugia told her son. **I have business to finish with this man.** Lu gave her a querying look, but a stern glare from his mother had him running down the beach and swimming out. He turned his head back, for a last look at his mother before putting his head in the water and diving down.

Mrs Lugia waited till the ripples had vanished, then turned and headed for where the man still stood with his door open. Folding her wings, she crouched, and just managed to squeeze in, but not without some ominous creaks and groans from the hut. She was too big to get in Rachel's cage, but shuffled over to a space on the floor, and settled there. The man looked at her with a triumphant smile on his face.

"My, you are magnificent, aren't you? Cyril will be very pleased with you indeed. I don't have a cage big enough to hold you, so you'll have to stay there. I'll take you out to do your business at dawn and at dusk. I will also provide a sand-box, but you are to use it only if you can't wait. My friend will be coming here two days from now, and you must be friendly and compliant with him." He turned to Rachel, and pointed at her through the cage. "This also applies to you. No talking to him, no acting human, be friendly and obedient, or I might be taking back your little Lugia-friend."

Rachel looked upset, then looked down. The man continued. "You see, the little Lugia's continued freedom depends upon both of you behaving yourselves. I'm going to let you out, Lugia-girl, to keep this Lugia company. Try to escape, and I'll have to recapture her son. Do you understand?" Rachel nodded. The man let her out and she ran, with tears trickling down her face, to Mrs Lugia's side. Mrs Lugia lifted a wing, and gently lowered it over Rachel.

The man went through to his back room, to feed the Pokémon he had stored there-Pokémon he'd not been able to shift, or was keeping for someone or something special. The figure he addressed was one of the latter. The man spoke.

"I don't mind giving that Lugia and your friend out there to Cyril, seeing as I should get plenty of money from Lawrence the Third for you. Articuno was the only bird he didn't catch last year-except for Lugia, that is-and I'm sure he'll love to have you to show off. However, seeing as a Lugia is a very special prize, I might charge him a bit for it-nothing near as much as it's worth, because Cyril couldn't afford it, but enough to make a tidy packet."

The figure moved forwards, proving to resemble the Ice-Titan, Articuno, but with human-shaped legs and a very human face. Her eyes, under the tri-feathered Articuno crest, were green rather than red, and although her nose was beaklike, she possessed a separate, human-looking mouth. Her head and body were covered in feathers. Her feet were bird-like, with the classical three-toes-forward-one-toe-back arrangement. Instead of arms, she possessed a long, spreading pair of brilliant blue wings. Two ears, pale blue and small, but still human, showed among the feathers on her head.

"What's he like?" she asked.

"Lawrence? Blonde, tall, blue eyes. Here, take a look at this." He handed her a very bad photocopy. It was an article copied from the Island's paper, the Shamouti Times. "He's a collector, you see, he goes after the rarest of things, and that includes you, my dear." Julie looked at the clipping, which detailed the events of the Festival of the year 2000. The photo of Lawrence was a fuzzy blur, but the article was just about readable. It spoke of how Lawrence the Third had used force-fields to capture and hold the birds. Julie began to worry.

The man went to a cupboard, got out a big bag of pokéchow, and poured some into a bowl, which he placed in the Articuno-girl's cage. Then he went on to a Pikachu he had in a shock-proof glass cage.

It looked up morosely, and then glared at him, sparking its cheeks. He quickly as possible put a bowl of pokéchow in, then moved on to a cage tucked between two others in a corner.

The person inside looked up sullenly. His hair was black and messy, and his eyes were brown. Red cheek-pouches were visible on his face, and among the hair on his head was a pair of Pikachu ears. He wore a very smelly yellow velvet jump-suit, with a slit at the bottom so he could use the bucket, which served as a toilet, without removing it (there were no fasteners on it anyway.) Two brown stripes were printed roughly at bum level. From a hole at the same level on the back of the suit protruded a Pikachu tail.

"Let me have my Pikachu back!" he said. "The way you cage up the Pokémon you sell is disgusting! Pokémon have feelings too!"

The man's face darkened. He opened Ash's cage and pulled him roughly out. Ash attempted to thundershock, but the copper wire round his ankle and attached to a bar of the cage effectively earthed him, preventing him from doing so. "I think you need a couple of extra stripes on your bum, Pika-brat!" the man said. He took the long, thin cane he had in his belt, and brought it down hard, twice, on Ash's bottom. Ash cried out in pain. Suddenly, there was snow everywhere.

"Leave him alone!" the Articuno-girl cried. "He's only a kid, and you're keeping his Pokémon from him! You're hurting him!" The man thrust Ash back in his cage none too gently, deliberately neglected to give Ash some pokéchow, and shut the door. He went around to the back of the Articuno-girls cage, and turned the temperature dial up to 30°C.

"For every blizzard you do, I'll put the heat up by an additional degree till next morning!" he said. "That'll teach you some respect!" He walked out.

Getting out a large bowl, he put it in front of Rachel and Mrs Lugia, and emptied the rest of the pokéchow into it.

"That's for both of you to share." He said. Mrs Lugia sniffed at it, and sampled a bit. She closed her eyes and reached her head around to gently nuzzle a sleepy Rachel. Settling down, she carefully adjusted her wing so Rachel could lie down comfortably but still be covered by it, and settled down to sleep.


	2. Cyril

Chapter Two

Cyril.

Two days later, Mrs Lugia and Rachel awoke to the sun streaming through the small windows of the man's hut. Neither had much appetite for the pokéchow in front of them. Mrs Lugia had had to listen to Lu's cries when he realised his mum wasn't coming back. It had taken hours for him to mentally sob himself to sleep. It had then been Rachel who'd had to comfort Mrs Lugia, who had started to feel guilty. "At least he's not in _here_, alone except for me. He's got his Dad, you did nothing wrong, giving yourself up for the sake of your son!"

The man came in, and got them both to stand up. He had a big bottle of some sort of clear fluid, and a pot of gooey white paste. He dipped a cloth into the clear bottle, and started wiping it down Mrs Lugia's wing. "Feather-shine will make you look good for my friend." He said. He put it all over Mrs Lugia's feathers, and then smeared it on Rachel's wings, front, back, upper legs and tail. It was sticky and smelled of chemicals. When it dried, it was hard and shiny. The man went out, returning with a pair of scissors. "Turn around." he told Rachel. "Any struggles or protests, and I go after the little Lugia." Rachel turned around so her back was to the man. The man took up her hair into a tail in his hand, twisted it tight against the back of Rachel's head, and cut it all off at nape-of-neck level. Rachel opened her mouth, remembered the man's threat, and closed her mouth again, her protest unsaid. Her trimmed her hair neatly, and then started smearing handfuls of the white paste on her hair, working it in, and then smoothing it down. When he had finished, Rachel's hair was white and slicked down close to the head, and didn't really look like hair at all anymore.

"That looks better." he said. He went through to the back, where the Articuno-girl was housed. The heated cage treatment had made her more submissive. She meekly submitted to feather-shining.

"This Lawrence the Third guy-does he still collect?" she asked.

"Well, as far as I know, yes." he said. She began to shake.

"I don't want to be put in a force-field!" she said.

"What's the problem? You won't feel it, you'll just go to sleep." He said.

"But I'll still age in there! What if I come out years later, old, or even die in there?"

"Don't worry. As long as he pays plenty of money for you, everything will be all right." He left her, shaking, to stand by Ash's cage. He assumed a relaxed pose, and used a conversational tone of voice.

"Now, do I sell you to Lawrence the Third, or no?" he asked. He saw a look of apprehension cross Ash's face.

"Do you have a problem with that? Why are you so worried?" he asked.

"Last year, I released Moltres and Zapdos from the force-fields they were in. They escaped by attacking the walls of his machine to make a hole they could get out of. The damage was so great the machine crash-landed on Lightning Island, and was later sliced in half by Lugia's aeroblast. I figure he'd be kind of upset by that."

"Sounds like he would definitely be interested in getting his hands on you then!" the man said. "I'd be pretty sore in his position myself. I'll make sure he gets to see you." He left, leaving a worried Ash in his wake.

Going back through, he got out the one force-field mechanism he possessed. It was several years out of date and in a bad state of repair. He set it up, and put it just opposite the doorway into the back room. He then slipped back in, closing the door 'to' to conceal its presence. He went over to the cage of the Articuno-girl, and opened the door. "Come on, I've got to finish getting you ready for Lawrence." he said. He took her by the wing, pushing her slightly ahead of him. When he opened the door in front of her, she barely had time to register the frame of the force-field mechanism before the man gave her a hard shove between the shoulder-blades. With a cry of terror, she was propelled forward, both her headlong flight and her cry being cut short as the force-field caught her and held her. A blizzard exited her mouth, but only extended a few inches before being held static by the field. The man smiled nastily, and pushed the force-field containing the Articuno-girl back into the back room. Then he picked up the cage containing Pikachu and carried it through to the front room, ignoring Ash's cries of "Give me my Pikachu! What are you going to do with him?"

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and the man welcomed in the most brightly-dressed person Rachel had ever had the misfortune to clap eyes upon.

He was wearing florescent lime-green trousers and an orange shirt patterned with blue, red, and purple. A saffron-coloured belt encircled his waist. His hair was black and spiky, and he was wearing electric-blue soft shoes. A black cloak with a bright cerise lining finished off his outfit. But his eyes were kind, and he had an infectious smile, which changed from just friendly to boyish excitement as he caught sight of Mrs Lugia and Rachel, in spite of the sprinkling of snow on him which suggested the weather was no longer clement outside.

"How much are they?" he exclaimed, rushing over, and caressing their feathers as if he couldn't believe they were real, which may have been the case.

"Well, I would give you them for free, but they were a dreadful trouble to catch." He then launched into a dreadful cock-and-bull story that, judging by the look on the other man's face, he didn't quite believe the half of. "So I'm afraid I must charge for them. I also have this." He said, holding up Pikachu's cage. The brightly-dressed man looked at Pikachu. "It looks a bit sad." He said. "How much do you want for it-I've got a Pikachu environment, plenty of members of the opposite gender for it-that should cheer it up!" He gave the man a wink.

"Well, as I owe you a favour, you can have all three for ninety per cent of your monthly allowance. The two Lugia-types will cause you no trouble-they'll come with you on leg-ropes. They're very docile and obedient." the man said. The look he threw Rachel and Mrs Lugia said that they'd better be, or they knew what would happen. "Oh, and Cyril, could you tell Lawrence I have a couple of things for him?" From one of his pockets, he took a brilliant blue wing-feather he'd plucked from Julie's wing two days previously. He handed it to Cyril, whose eyes widened.

"Okay, I will." He said. The man moved to put leg-ropes on Rachel and Mrs Lugia, but Cyril put up a restraining hand.

"If they're as docile as you suggest, they shouldn't need leg-ropes. They should just come with me, right?" He went over to Rachel, and stroked her down a wing. "Do you want to come with me?" He turned to Mrs Lugia, reaching up to stroke her chest. "I have a special environment for you both, with Brock's pokéchow, water, flying, and psychic type, conforming bedding, an underground lair-cave with an entrance into the water and an entrance onto the land, a big swimming area, and bushes and plants. If you're as docile as he says, I can take you out sometimes into the human area or the open part of the exhibition hall. I can even take you into the sea with me to dive!"

"Bad idea." interjected the man. "The open sea might be too much temptation, docile though they be, and they might just swim away."

"I'll train them first, and if they don't come back, then I'm not as good and kind a trainer as I think I am." Cyril shot back. "Pokémon stay with good trainers. However, you sound like you're speaking from experience. Tell me about it."

"I had a Mantine I was trying to train. I wanted it to get some good skills so I could sell it for a decent sum." said the man. "But when I tried to train it in the sea, it attacked me and swam off."

"Is that the same Mantine that's terrorising the island fishermen and Lawrence has warned me about?" Cyril asked. Mrs Lugia blinked, and looked at Cyril.

"Erm-probably," said the man.

"What did you do to it to make it attack people?" Cyril asked.

"Well, it wasn't obeying, so I gave it a couple of taps with this." He said, indicating the cane he had on his belt.

"You gave it more than 'a couple of taps.' if it's doing half of what Lawrence has told me." he said. "You shouldn't hit Pokémon like that. You should raise them with trust and love. Show them the carrot rather than the stick. If they love and trust you, Pokémon will try harder for you. My sister may be coming here to inspect you, so I'd put your other Pokémon in bigger cages if I were you." Cyril handed the man some enhancers, potions, and healing items, as well as some pokéchow samples. "If you can show my sister that you can treat Pokémon right, she might approve you setting up a mart. Try training a Pokémon; you can get money from Pokémon battles, and you'll understand more what I'm talking about.

He indicated Mrs Lugia. "Is this one male of female?"

"Female." The man said. Cyril took a handful of Brock's Pokéchow and offered it to Mrs Lugia. "Here you are." She dipped her head down to eat, glad to have something more appetising than the cheap junk the man had offered. Cyril reached up with his other hand, and stroked her head as she gently ate the pokéchow. "Good girl, isn't that nice?" he said. He offered another handful to Rachel, who ate it with enthusiasm. "There, that's nicer than that stuff he's given you." he said.

He handed the man his card to pay for them, and carefully strapped Pikachu's cage to his back. He turned back to Rachel and Mrs Lugia. "Come with me, both of you." He gently took one of Rachel's wings in one hand, at the top, near the shoulder, and used the other to carefully take the tip of Mrs Lugia's wing. He gave a small tug to indicate which way he wanted them to move. Getting Mrs Lugia out of the door involved as many ominous creaks as getting her in had. The Pikachu got very upset at this point. "Pikash! Pikash!" it cried. Cyril didn't know what to do, so decided to get it back to his Pikachu environment, to see if that would help.

Walking them to the Slowking's Shrine, where his machine was parked didn't take long, and Cyril took them up in the lift and showed them his specially made Lugia-environment. It was a 30ft long enclosure with a 10-foot piece of land and a 20-foot piece of water. The enclosure was 10 foot wide. He unstrapped the Pikachu's cage from his back, and put the very upset-looking Pikachu in his Pikachu enclosure. "Pikash." it said miserably.

Cyril then attended to Mrs Lugia and Rachel. Taking them into the Lugia enclosure, he found that there was only just about enough room in the underground lair-cave section for both Mrs Lugia and Rachel. They managed to get in, with a bit of wriggling, and both get comfortable. Cyril also managed to squeeze in between them, to settle them in with much patting and stroking and gentle talking. The conforming bedding was more comfortable than Cyril had realised. So comfortable, in fact, that within the hour, all three of them were curled up together, asleep.


	3. Laurie

Chapter Three.

Lawrence.

Later on that same day, Lawrence the Third contacted Shamouti Island to tell them he was coming into land in about half-an-hour. As he was doing so, he saw, to his astonishment, Articuno go winging past his machine, calling loudly, and then swooping low over the Slowking's shrine, where there seemed to be a localised patch of inclement weather. Moltres and Zapdos were next, taking an almost identical course to Articuno, also calling in what sounded like alarm. For a heart-stopping moment, he thought that they might be fighting, but as they came back the way they had come, Moltres overtook Zapdos, and neither showed any aggression towards the other. Zapdos cast _him_ an evil look as it went past, but showed no inclination to attack either of the other two. They were disturbed by something, sure enough, but were not fighting. Just as well, with the Chosen One having seemingly dropped off the face of the planet without trace! But what was upsetting them? He asked the Headman, Tobias, who he was talking to over the radio.

"I don't know." Tobias replied. "They've been doing that for the last couple of days, just over-flying the island again and again, calling like that! I don't know why, except that something must be upsetting them! If you're coming in to land, there's space in the main square, but you'll have to move when the flying Poké Centre/doctor's surgery turns up."

"That'll be Cyril's sister. He said she was a Pokémon and people doctor, and had a machine like his for flying about the islands in. Okay, that's no problem." Lawrence said. Tobias smiled, his eyes crinkling up at the corners. "Drop by, lad, and we'll have a quiet drink and a chat."

"You mean you'll serve up some of that hooch of yours-what's it called again?" he asked.

"Moltres' Fury. Yes." Tobias said.

"Moltres' Fury no kidding! It sure felt like Moltres had fire blasted the inside of my head last year when you gave me that stuff! O.K, see you in half-an-hour." He signed off, and headed for the village and the main square.

The patch of bad weather by the Slowking's Shrine was no worse, he noted, but also no better. He could see Cyril's machine, parked near it. He called Cyril.

"Lawrence! You must come and see what I've got off my friend! Come around!"

"Not today, or anytime early tomorrow, I'm afraid. I've been invited around Tobias' house, for a drink of his evil brew! I won't even be _up_ tomorrow morning, never mind able to visit you!"

"You might want to visit my friend tomorrow too-he's got something for you." said Cyril, taking out the blue feather and holding it in front of the screen. "He gave me this to show you."

"But he can't have Articuno, thank God, because I saw it myself, fifteen minutes ago. I guess I'll head there tomorrow afternoon-which is the earliest I expect to wake, _with_ a stinking hangover. I'd better make sure Adele leaves a cup of her hangover cure by my bed. That stuff can even cure a Moltres' Fury hangover!"

"Okay, so I'll see you when I see you." said Cyril. "By the way, that angry Mantine you warned me about is his. He mistreated it. See if you can convince him to try to placate it, would you?"

"Absolutely." said Lawrence. "By the way, Cyril, don't forget to go to the sausage shop. They'll sell you a "Visitor's Link, which is ten sausages for the price of eight. Shamouti sausages are special, they're not your regular bangers, so make sure you know how to cook them before you try. Also, go to the guest house to but the sauce-the Farraday's is far superior to what the shop sells. Try the mushroom, garlic, and herb, or the cheesy herb sauce. If in doubt about the cooking, wait for me to come around and I'll show you. Well, I'm going to have to concentrate on landing now so I'll say goodbye." He signed off.

He landed, and made his way to Tobias' home. Adele let him in, and the aroma of Shamouti sausages in Farraday Mushroom and garlic sauce caressed his nostrils invitingly. "Come in, we're expecting you! Want a plateful?" she asked, gesturing towards the Aga, where the sausages were cooking.

"Yes please!" said Lawrence, whose mouth was already watering at the smell. Adele waved him to a seat, and in short order, a plate bearing three fat Shamouti sausages swimming in Farraday sauce (containing whole button mushrooms, and quarters of the scarce Lightning Island hand-picked mushrooms), an empty glass, a jug full of mixed fruit juice, and a deceptively small bottle of Moltres' Fury was placed on the table in front of him. Adele handed him a set of wooden-handled cutlery, the handles beautifully carved into miniature totems of Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos.

Lawrence tucked in with gusto, not putting down his cutlery until he had finished eating. Tobias and Adele tucked in with equal relish. Lawrence finished, looked up, and let out an appreciative sigh, followed by a rather loud belch that he tried unsuccessfully to stifle. Adele looked up and smiled.

"Sounds like you enjoyed that!"

"I did. I don't eat like that often." He replied.

"You need a wife!" declared Adele. "We'll have to set you up with an island girl!"

"I think I scared them all off with what I did last year!" Lawrence sighed.

"Nah." Adele said "We islanders have long memories, but short grudges. They'll have forgiven you for that long ago."

"As have we." said Tobias, leaning forward to pour an alarmingly generous amount of Moltres' Fury into Lawrence's glass. Lawrence quickly diluted it with fruit juice before he risked becoming drunk on the fumes alone. Tobias raised his own glass, also safely diluted.

"Here's to friendship!" he said.

"To friendship." Lawrence and Adele echoed, and they drank.

Three hours (and two more large glasses) later, Adele and Tobias helped Lawrence up to their guest bedroom. Adele kindly made up some hangover remedy, leaving it by Lawrence's bed. Then Tobias and Adele retired to bed too.

Lawrence was awoken late the next morning by a chink of sunlight that slipped through a crack between the curtains. Opening his eyes cautiously, long enough to spot and reach for the hangover cure. He drank it, dressed, and then, feeling rather delicate, went downstairs.

Rachel awoke, in Cyril's machine, to find Cyril gone, and Mrs Lugia shifting restlessly beside her. **Are you okay?** she asked.

**I have a problem, and I'm not sure what to do. **Mrs Lugia proceeded to explain that in the normal course of things, a female Lugia, once mated, could store sperm indefinitely. In the normal course of things, a Lugia would lay 2, or maybe 3 eggs, several tens of years apart, in her lifetime. Mrs Lugia's sense of time wasn't easy to gauge, but usually the last child had grown up and flown the nest by the time the next egg was laid. But Nature had invented a safety system in Lugias, since a Lugia's role in nature was so important.

**If a female Lugia who has mated at least once is separated from any other Lugia for a certain period of time, the body senses the absence of another Lugia, and sets egg production into motion, using the stored sperm. I will soon be laying an egg. I don't know what to do. I don't want my next child born into captivity!**

Rachel rested her head against Mrs Lugia's side. She, too, was at a loss how to resolve Mrs Lugia's dilemma. **Even if you managed to get this egg to your mate, the result would just be another egg! **she said. Mrs Lugia closed her eyes in sadness and resignation.

**Then I will have to raise my child in captivity. **she sighed.

Back at Tobias' house, Lawrence was feeling a little more human, after a Shamouti fried breakfast and a hair of the dog. He set out, stopping off at his machine to change into some fresh clothes, and set off to Cyril's friend's hut.

Cyril, in the meantime, was rather concerned about the Pikachu he'd bought from his friend. Despite being surrounded by Pikachus of both gender, it was still unhappy. They tried to show it around, all the females were trying to get its attention, for it was a fine male specimen of its kind, but to no avail. Even the little large-eared Pikachu types which hatched from the eggs (and they were beginning to outnumber the Pikachu) couldn't entice it to join them in their games. It just sat there sadly, tears leaking down its cheeks, uttering a little 'Pikash' now and then. Cyril didn't know what to do. His sister-a combined Pokémon and people doctor-would know, he was sure. He was glad she'd be arriving in a few days.

Lawrence, in the meantime, was making his way to the man's hut. He had on a nice thick cloak, very long and voluminous, with a nice thick hood, which was currently keeping the weather off him. The localised blizzard he was fighting alternated every few minutes with driving rain, and/or sleet. Wrapping it tightly around himself, he negotiated a three-second hailstorm which peppered him with hailstones the size of the average marble.

Upon reaching the man's hut, he got in, and knocked some of the accumulated snow off his hood. Seeing a coat and hat rack, he shucked off the hood and hung it up, where it dripped soggily.

"Welcome!" said the man, coming through. "Come, I will make you a pot of coffee to warm you up, and we will do business. I have a rare Pokémon for you, for your collection!"

"Thank you." said a shivering Lawrence. The man waved him to a seat and shortly he was sipping a warm rich coffee.

"Come, and let me show you what I have for you." The man said. "This little gem caused me so much trouble to catch." The man pulled his face into a sorrowful mask.

'_Yeah, right, the old sob story.'_ thought Lawrence, well used to such traders.

"She really is a beauty, and any collector would be proud to possess her." The man continued. "All we need to do is agree on a suitable price."

"I don't want to just take your word for it! What if I end up buying just a manky old Pidgey?" Lawrence said. "Show me this Pokemon!"

"Manky old Pidgey, oh no!" the man said. "I would not trick you so, no! My reputation would be ruined!" He signalled for Lawrence to stay where he was.

"Here, see, this is no manky Pidgey I sell to you! He said, and pushed the force-field containing Julie into view.

The man had made a few adjustments to the mechanism, strengthening the field at certain points, and weakening it at others to put her in the pose he desired. She was in a flying pose, wings spread, feet back, head up with her tail coiling back and behind her. Her mouth was open (nothing the friend had tried had managed to close it) and her eyes wide open (in fright.) A fine mist of ice-crystals, from the captured blizzard, hung suspended in front of her.

Lawrence was appalled. He recognised the mechanism as a type blacklisted by many Pokémon collectors, because any Pokémon kept in one tended to suffer severe disorientation upon coming out. The longer they were in, the more severe the disorientation. The ability to pose the entity inside was decidedly dodgy. There was no warning system or cut-out for pressure applied. Broken bones and muscular tears had been known to occur. Unscrupulous collectors had been known to leave Pokémon in for decades, where only a few years was recommended, and some had been known to die of old age in the field. Force fields generally only immobilised and put to sleep Pokémon. There were some that could keep them completely in stasis, but they were highly expensive, and mainly the province of the Nurse Joys (to keep a seriously ill Pokémon in a stable condition until treatment could be effected) and doctors (the same reason with human patients).

Early death was another unpleasant side-effect of the field being used for any length of time, and it was thought that high electromagnetic fields, combined with irregularities that rippled at random through the field (a design fault of that model) were to blame.

"You've caught a young Articuno? Let it out!" he cried. He was pale and shaking. If this were a young Articuno, it would explain the patch of foul weather he'd had to battle through to get there. Additionally, one or both parents might turn up in order to release their child, which would mean trouble. Then he noticed how human the face looked, and the non bird-like leg thickness, and wondered just what the man had caught.

"I can't do that! She'll blizzard, and fly away. Don't panic, it's not a young Articuno, but it's close enough. If I recall rightly, you didn't manage to capture Articuno last year, so I'd imagine this would be worth quite a lot to you. Shall we decide on a price? How about 800'000?"

"That's ridiculous! I'm not that desperate!" he snapped back. "200'000 would make you rich enough, and I'll even take the force-field off your hands. I'll pay you 5000 for it." _'To make sure you can't use it on some other poor Pokémon!' _he thought. "If you must use force-fields, I'll throw in one of mine free to sweeten the deal. A computer system would be better, and my generous offer could help you set up a shop, a more profitable shop. If your Pokémon are happy and well-treated, people are more likely to buy from you. This island will soon need a Poké Mart, and if you move quickly enough, your shop can be it. Corner the market early, get yourself established, and competition will be easier to beat off when it turns up. Why not try training and battling a Pokémon and battling other trainers? It'll help you understand what trainers look for and how they feel about their Pokémon. You also earn money from battling."

At this, the man seemed interested, and asked for more information, but wanted more money for Julie. They eventually settled on 300'000. Then the man said "I may have something else you may be interested in."

"Oh, let me see." Lawrence said.

"I need to know you can keep control of it, and deal with it. It can be rude, mouthy, and a right pain in the bum!"

'_Oh dear!'_ thought Lawrence _'If it's causing him that much trouble, I'd bet almost anything he's mistreating it. I'd best convince him, for it's sake, that I can control it. That means appearing harsh.'_

He drew himself up to his full height, folded his arms, and gave the man a haughty glare.

"I am Lawrence the Third. I think I can deal with disobedient Pokémon. I have force-fields I can use! Excellent for display purposes, and even the birds last year couldn't escape without outside help!"

"Follow me." The man said. "Remember that boy who spoiled your plans last year, and whose meddling resulted in the crash and subsequent destruction of your original machine?"

'_Oh no!'_ thought Lawrence. _'Has he got Ash?'_

"Yes, I remember that brat." was what Lawrence said to the man. "That was an expensive machine!" The man beckoned, and Lawrence followed him through to the back room.

There, in a cage between a depressed looking Chansey and a sad, limp Mankey, was Ash, in a grubby-looking yellow bodysuit that Lawrence could smell from the door. There was something different about him, other than his attire. In the hair on top of his head, were those-ears? Was that tail part of the bodysuit, or was it attached to Ash? What about those red patches on his cheeks? The man took Lawrence over to the cage.

"I have that brat here, if you want him." The man said. As Ash looked up, hearing the man's voice, Lawrence noted the look of abject misery on Ash's face, the wetness on his cheeks and the redness of Ash's eyes. As Ash caught sight of Lawrence, Lawrence saw fear creep into those eyes.

"Of course I want him!" Lawrence said. "I know how to deal with this boy. I do not intend to repeat the mistakes of last year! I'll take him off your hands for 100'000."

Lawrence could see it was more than the man had expected, for rather than trying to up the price, he promptly said "Done!"

"Did he have any other clothes? I'll want him to be recognisable." Lawrence asked.

"Yes, I'll just go and get them." the man said. He opened a drawer in a nearby cupboard, and extracted Ash's clothes, shoes, cap and rucksack.

"I want a trolley for the Articuno-creature and her force-field. This one can come on a leg-rope, and walk with me." he said, indicating Ash. "I will help you set up a Mart, if you show me you can treat a Pokémon with kindness and train it with love. I'll return later."

The man opened Ash's cage and pulled him out none too gently. He unwound the other end of the copper wire attached to Ash's ankle from a cage bar. "I'd leave that on him if I were you, or he might thundershock you." the man said. The man attached a leg-rope to Ash's ankle, and handed the handle end to Lawrence. Lawrence slipped the handle over his hand, around his wrist, took one of Ash's limp hands in his own, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"When I encountered this meddling child before, he had a Pikachu and other Pokémon with him. Where are they?" he asked the man.

"Your friend Cyril took on the Pikachu. There were no other Pokémon with him." The man said.

'_No wonder Ash looks so miserable!'_ thought Lawrence. '_That's a dirty trick, selling on his Pikachu!'_

"Can I ask what you plan to do with him?" the man asked Lawrence.

"I am Lawrence the Third. My business is mine!" Lawrence snapped, abruptly turning to the man, who stepped back, suitably intimidated by Lawrence's height and manner. Lawrence blinked slowly and inclined his head, "I suppose it will do no harm to let you know my plans for this boy. I hope to have him on display before the whole island and it's visitors. All will get to know what he did to my machine last year!" Ash began to tremble, fear now the uppermost emotion in his eyes. Lawrence then spoke psychically to Ash himself.

**Meaning, O Chosen One, that the islanders would like you to be in the re-enactment of last year's events, playing your own part on a float and in the ceremony. All the islanders and the tourists can see how your actions stopped my folly and saved the world. Play along and act scared, but you have no real need to fear me." **The worried look on Ash's face and the trembling didn't stop, but much of the fear left his eyes. Lawrence spoke to Ash again, this time out loud. "Now make yourself useful and help me push this trolley, or it'll be all the worse for you!"

Lawrence handed the man his platinum bank card. "Charge the amount to my account, and then we'll be on our way." Lawrence sat and watched the man type in the amount, then took his card back and went out, helping Ash with the trolley. Lawrence looked back over his shoulder. "We'll make arrangements to send one of my force-fields when I come back. In the meantime, do something about that Mantine of yours before it severely hurts or kills someone! It needs to be treated with kindness. Your actions caused it to have no trust in humans. You must restore it's trust."

The weather was still bad, but they were now at the centre of it, having Julie with them. Lawrence's cloak was big enough that while wearing it he could wrap Ash in the folds to keep him dry.

"Chosen One." he said after a few minutes. "Do me a favour."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Ash.

"If you come across that man again, and you're in a position to do so, thundershock him. He gave me the distinct impression that you could, and he deserves it!"

"Er- yes Sir, and could you just call me Ash, Sir. I got enough of that "Chosen One" stuff last year, and am likely to get it again this year Sir." Ash asked.

"Okay, Ash, on one condition. Drop the 'Sir'. Also, although my name is Lawrence, my friends call me Laurie. I'd like to consider you as my friend."

"Er, Okay S-I mean Laurie." Ash replied.

Upon reaching Lawrence's machine, Lawrence called down his lift, and they got Julie's force field and trolley onto it, then stepped on themselves. Lawrence instructed it to take them to his living quarters level. On the way up, Lawrence removed the copper wire around Ash's ankle. The man had used a rough piece, and had wound it so tightly around Ash's leg that it had cut into the flesh. Lawrence pointed Ash towards the shower, giving him several fluffy towels and some shampoo, soap, a soft sponge and a loofah. Lawrence laid Ash's clothes out on the bed ready for him, and got out a first-aid kit to dress the injury on Ash's leg. He then turned his attention to Julie.

He carefully, over the course of a few minutes, relaxed the force-field, but left the sleep-inducing field on, so he could gently transfer her to his bed without the disorientation caused by the device making her struggle. He moved behind her, and reaching over, gently stroked her face with one finger. She was exquisite! But what was she?

She stirred, her wings twitching, and then suddenly let loose with a full-force blizzard. Lawrence was glad he'd had the foresight to go behind her.

"Hush, it's okay, you're out of the force-field." He told her. Her lips moved as if trying to say something, but what came out was an Articuno-like screech that made Lawrence clap his hands over his ears. Then she tried again, and this time she succeeded in managing to speak.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"I'm Laurie, and you're safe, in my machine."

"Laurie?" she queried. "He said he was going to sell me to some guy called Lawrence the Third."

"That's me, Laurie for short." He said gently. As she began to shake harder, and the wind outside picked up into a howling gale, he decided it had been the wrong thing to say. What had the man said about him? He took her by the shoulders, gently turning her towards him till their faces were opposite each other.

"Relax, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." he said. She opened her eyes, and saw his face. Her huge green eyes met his blue ones, and widened. The wind outside dropped to a whisper, as he continued to stare. Lawrence took his chance.

"What's your name? Don't worry about the year, it's June 2, 2002."

"Then I've only been in there a few days. Thank God!" she said. "My name's Julie."

"Julie." He repeated. "It's a lovely name.

"What are you planning to do with me?" she asked. "The article I was given said you use force-fields." She began to shake again. "Please don't put me in one!" There were tears in her pleading eyes.

"I won't I promise." he said. As her eyes closed in relief, the tears were squeezed from her eyes onto her face. Lawrence wiped away one with his thumb, and kissed the other away. "I bought you to get you away from him! I learned my lesson last year. I don't collect live things any more. You can go free right now if you want! However, I would be honoured if you would join me for a holiday here. Shamouti Island is fun even for a lone tourist, but even more fun with a friend."

She smiled up at him. "I'd love to!" she said. Her shaking subsided, and the weather outside cleared. The sun came out.

"Which article was it anyway?" he asked.

"A photocopy from the local paper. It's under here." She said, lifting a wing. Lawrence reached in for the folded piece of paper he could see.

It was warm and dry under Julie's wing, and he retrieved the paper, withdrawing his hand from the pleasant feathers reluctantly. He looked at the photocopy and said "Yes, I was like that last year, but I'm not any more."

"Good." said Julie.

"How did you end up like this?" Lawrence asked. "Were you born that way?"

"No." Julie said. "I was put through a teleportation device, and combined at the genetic level with some Articuno tissue a scientist cloned from some skin he found on an Articuno feather he found." Julie explained. "He's changed other people too, as you can see." One wingtip indicated Ash, who was (finally) coming out of the shower, as pink as a newly-peeled prawn, a big fluffy towel wrapped around his waist, so big it looked like a long skirt.

"How many people?" asked Lawrence.

"A lot." She said. She did a quick mental calculation. "Thirteen who haven't been hypnotised into obedience, and about the same number who have. And he's planning more."

"How many have been changed by teleporter? Can you be changed back? Just how much Articuno are you? Do you feel more like a bird or a girl? Can you actually fly? Or blizzard?"

"Hey, one question at a time, please, or I might forget some! I'm the only one he's changed by teleporter. The rest have been altered surgically. I can't be changed back. He wiped my pattern because he didn't want the owner of the teleporter to know that he'd used it. The owner found out anyway, and had it locked and guarded. That's the only reason I'm the only one altered this way. The scientist said that I'm 53 Articuno. I feel more human then bird, although the reverse physically, is true. I can fly and blizzard, and I can carry a human on my back." She noticed the hopeful look Lawrence was trying (and failing) to hide. "I'll gladly fly with you on my back sometimes." she told him, and was rewarded with a brilliant grin.

"Can I have one of your tail-feathers for my collection, if one falls out?" he asked.

"Sure!" Julie said. She sat up. "Is there anything to eat? I'm sorry to ask, but I'm starving!" Next to her Ash, who had quietly dressed, looked down at his stomach sheepishly as it gave a loud rumble. "I second that!"

Lawrence laughed good-naturedly. "I've got some snacks I can bung in the microwave for you. That should fill a hole while I go to get some Shamouti sausages and some Farraday sauce." Julie had heard of neither the sausages or the sauce, but judging from the look on Ash's face, and the way his mouth was watering, and the hopeful noises he was making, (e.g. yum yum, yes please!) he had not only heard about, but had tasted both.

"Incoming call received." His computer said at that moment. "Caller I.D'd as Cyril. Instructions please."

"I'm just coming, I'll answer it." He turned to Julie and Ash. "I won't be long, it's a friend of mine calling."

He sat down in his chair, and asked to be put through.

"Ah, Lawrence, how's the hangover?" asked Cyril. Lawrence winced: Cyril was still wearing that orange shirt, with a bright magenta hanky tucked in his pocket and a green and purple bandanna around his head.

"Mostly better, but lose the hanky and bandanna. My eyes are still sensitive." He said. Cyril obligingly removed the offending items.

"Are you coming around for something to eat, and see what my friend has given me?" he asked. "Also, perhaps you can help me with one of my Pokémon. It's a Pikachu I bought from my friend." Lawrence remembered that the man had told him that he'd sold Cyril Ash's Pikachu.

"What's the problem? Won't it obey you?" he asked.

"It won't do _anything_! It just sits in my Pikachu environment looking sad, and occasionally saying 'Pikash', which I've never heard any other Pikachu say before!"

"I think I may be able to help you there." Lawrence said. "I'll go to the sausage shop and guest house, and get some sausages and sauce to add to yours. Then I'll be straight round."

"Oops! I forgot to get any!" said Cyril.

"Call the sausage shop." said Lawrence, sending him the number. "They'll send an island boy to deliver and take payment for them at your machine. Just tip him a bit as well."

"Okay." Said Cyril, and Lawrence signed off.

He went to a cupboard, and found some oat bars. Giving one to Ash, he opened one for Julie, breaking pieces off and putting them in Julie's mouth. Ash tore into his bar and disposed of it rapidly. When they'd both finished, Lawrence spoke to them.

"We're going to get some Shamouti sausages and sauce. I can confirm my booking, and we can drop by the café on the way to get you something else to eat. Save a space for the sausages we'll get at Cyril's machine. I think Cyril has your Pikachu, Ash, and I know he won't have mistreated it."

"But will he let me have it back?" asked Ash.

"Cyril's a kind man. He wouldn't like to see you _or _Pikachu miserable, if he could do anything to help. If he doesn't, I'll have a word. C'mon both of you, let's go!"

They set off.


	4. The Egg

Chapter Four.

The Egg.

Cyril typed in the number Lawrence had given him. He asked for a link, and the proprietor asked "Have you been here before? You don't look familiar."

"No, I'm just visiting. First time in my life." Cyril replied.

"Okay, one Visitor's Link coming up. Do you want some sauce?

I can get the shop to send some."

Cyril remembered what Lawrence had said, and said "No thanks. A friend is bringing me some sauce."

"O.K, it'll be with you in about fifteen minutes. It's polite to tip the kid who delivers it, and ensures they'll run errands for you again. They don't ask for much, but they appreciate any amount given."

Cyril signed off, and checked his finances with dismay. As his friend had taken the lion's share of his allowance, Cyril would have to either ask his sister for an advance on next month's allowance, or only stay one week at the guest house instead of the three he had planned on staying. There was no guarantee his sister would allow him the advance anyway, so he might have to stay in his machine for 2 weeks. Oh well, with the Lugia and the Lugia-girl in his lair, it might not be as bad as he thought it might be. Speaking of which, he should check on them. They'd seemed a little agitated that morning.

Cyril went in, and reached out a gentle hand as he entered the lair. It touched warm feathers, which flinched away from his touch. He couldn't see a thing. "Illumination, 30"

he commanded his computer. As the lights came up, he was thankful he'd had voice-response programmed into the computer. He could now see the lair enough to see its two occupants huddled together. They were still agitated.

"Hey, shh, it's okay." Cyril said in a gentle voice. The Lugia was rustling her wings nervously, and Cyril caught a glance of something underneath it. "Hey girl, what's that? Let's see." he said, trying to lean forward for a better look. Mrs Lugia thrust forward

her head to bar his way, eyes narrowed, mouth open, bearing her four largest sharp teeth.

It was the first threatening gesture he'd seen her use, and his brain noted the warning and he drew back. She instantly shut her mouth, and cringed back. She began to shake, and what sounded like a whimper came from her. She was scared, and Cyril didn't know why. All he knew was that he wanted to ease her distress. At this point, the Lugia-girl threw herself on her knees by his feet, and took one of his hands in both of hers (which he'd discovered she possessed halfway down her wings on the underside) and looked up as him pleadingly.

Cyril realised that she, too, was frightened. One thing at a time, he decided. He turned his attention away from the Lugia-girl to address the Lugia.

"Easy girl, I'm not going to hurt you or your friend here. I promise you, I won't hurt you, or steal whatever you've got under there." A thought struck him, which he voiced out loud.

"It's an egg, isn't it. You're just defending it, right, like any mother would protect her child. Don't worry, I'm not going to hold it against you, and I'm not going to steal your egg, girl. I'd love a look at it, though." He didn't really expect her to understand him, but hoped his gentle tone of voice would reassure her. It seemed to work, for she stopped whimpering and shaking. Then she lifted her wing for long enough to see that what she was hiding was indeed an egg. Other than it's size, it looked to Cyril like any other Pokémon egg. Then the wing was again lowered protectively over it, though she seemed less agitated.

He looked down as he felt an unexpected kiss on the hand being held. It was the Lugia-girl. He used his other hand to ruffle her hair affectionately (he'd washed off the white gunk earlier.) "Why thank you!" he said, having to resist the urge to return the kiss, and on the lips at that. He was rather glad when the door chimed. "Let him in." Cyril instructed the computer. "Stay here, it's just the sausages being delivered." he told the Lugia-girl. "Perhaps I'll cook you a couple. I'll be back in a minute. Do you want anything?" The Lugia-girl looked up, and then pointed at Cyril's watch.

"Hey, you can't have my watch, but I'll get you a clock and bring it in when I return." he said. He went out, and met the boy with the sausages, who was regarding the machine and the Pokémon enclosures with an expression of wonderment on his face. That's when Cyril had his idea.

"Come in for a bit." he said, taking the sausages from the boy. "I'd like to show you some of my Pokémon." The boy eagerly followed, and after stowing the sausages safely in the fridge, he showed him his Pikachu environment, his fire-type environment, his water-type environment, and his plant-type environment (which had rather a lot of Bellsprouts, born of his pair of Victreebels.) The boy made interested sounds at each enclosure. Cyril spoke to the boy after showing him the Pikachu environment again.

"Would you like a Pokemon instead of your usual tip? You see, I'm a bit short, and though I could tip you, it wouldn't be much. I'm able to pay for the sausages of course." he said, giving the boy the payment.

"A Pokémon? I can have a Pokémon?" the boy asked, his eyes lighting up.

"I can't give you an Ivysaur or Venusaur, or a Wartortle or Blastoise, or a Charmeleon or Charizard. It would be similarly unwise to give you a Raichu. What would you like." Cyril asked.

"C'n I have a Pichu?" the boy asked eagerly.

"Pichu?" asked Cyril.

"Yeah, one of them black-eared thingys with pink cheeks and a tiny tail." he said, pointing at one who, in it's curiosity, had it's little nose pressed to the glass of the Pikachu enclosure, and was staring at them. "They evolve into Pikachu when they're happy, so if I evolve one up, it'll love me as much as the Chosen One's Pikachu loves him!"

"Pika?" interjected Cyril's most recent Pikachu, the one his friend had sold him. Cyril wondered what had prompted that response. For just a moment, it seemed to have perked up. He turned back to the boy who was saying "Can I have a Pichu? Please?"

Feeling ignorant, Cyril said "Sure! Come in and choose one." He unlocked the door into the Pikachu environment, and they entered.

The boy, as a stranger, was immediately the focus of attention for several curious Pichu, who clustered around him.

"Pi, Pichu!" one cried up at him. It grabbed one of his bare legs, and hugged it.

"I'll take this one, please!" the boy said. Cyril nodded, and the boy scooped up his Pichu, and followed Cyril out. As Cyril went to close the door, another Pichu slipped out. It hugged Cyril's leg, looked up hopefully, and said "Pichu?"

Cyril laughed. "Hey, okay, you can come with me." he told it. He turned to the boy again, trying to ignore the scrabbling paws of the Pichu as it climbed up. Upon reaching its goal of getting onto Cyril's shoulder, it flopped over it, exhausted.

"Truth be told, I'll be handing out Pokémon on a first-come first-served basis, so as you've done me a favour, you can have one more. I'd suggest one of the three starters-Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle."

"Squirtle please!" the boy said. From the look on his face, he must have thought Christmas and his birthday had both come early and on the same day. Cyril let the boy choose his Squirtle, and gave him a couple of suitable TM's (Thunderpunch and Rain Dance), plus 2 each of potion, super potion, hyper potion, antidote, awakening, paralyz heal and full heal. He also gave him 2 poké balls to put his two new Pokémon in, and six Great Balls, so hew could catch some more if he so desired.

"Please look after them: I won't give Pokémon to anyone with a history of Pokémon abuse. Tell your friends that." He accessed his computer, and got it to print out a basic care of Pokémon leaflet. He handed it to the boy, along with two small bags of Pokéchow, the good stuff, Brock's Water type and Brock's Electric-type. The boy left, quite happy with his new friends.

Cyril picked up a clock with luminous figures and hands, and looked up towards the Lugia enclosure. He was in two minds going back in. Not that he disliked his Lugia or his Lugia-girl. On the contrary: the problem was that he liked the Lugia-girl a little too much.

His friend had definitely given him the impression that she was some kind of new Pokémon. As new Pokémon were being discovered all the time, this was not just possible, but likely. The problem was that she was disconcertingly human. At the same time, most of her actions and behaviour was that of a Pokémon. He could see intelligence in her eyes-but then the same intelligence was visible in Mrs Lugia's eyes, as he would expect in a legendary Pokémon. The Lugia-girl had human-type hands-but so did Jynx and Mr Mime. She had a human face, and despite her wings and breastbone, a womanly shape. However, again, Jynx had these characteristics too. The big difference was that he was feeling attracted to his Lugia-girl, more attracted than he should be to a Pokémon. It was something he would have to talk to his sister about: there was nothing natural about falling in love with a Pokémon! Perhaps Lawrence would be able to help him. He sighed: he had promised he would return. Then he had an idea: he could sketch her, and the Lugia. He got out a bundle of pencils and some paper.

He entered the lair, and handed her the clock. The Lugia-girl made a pleased sound, and put the clock where she could see it. "Hello." he said. "Do you mind if I sketch you?" She nodded in agreement, and moved aside to give him room to sit down. He did so, and she stretched, lying back. Cyril began to sketch, but found the position she was lying in rather distracting. After five minutes, he abandoned his sketch, placing the pencils and paper to one side. He stretched out beside her, and she lay a wing over him, looking up at his face with a smile on her lips. _'Oh, to hell with it!' _thought Cyril. _'There's no harm in cuddling!' _He put an arm under her head, and she responded by cuddling her head into his shoulder. He bent his hand back up to stroke her hair, and she sighed, closing her eyes. He responded by bringing his other arm up around to hug her.

Her hand tightened on his waist, and she raised her head, and kissed him on the cheek. She looked at him, and smiled. He moved his hand in a caressing motion, and she sighed in pleasure. Then, she raised her head, and, taking him by surprise, she kissed him full on the lips.

Without any hesitation, he reciprocated the kiss. He then began to kiss her on the hollow of her neck. She threw her head back in pleasure.

The door chimed. Cyril broke off, looked up, went rather red, and said "I'd better answer that. It's probably Lawrence."

He went to the door, and found it wasn't Lawrence, but the boy he'd given Pokémon to.

"This is to say thanks." said the boy. "It's Tobias' special brew." Cyril, having heard from Lawrence just how lethal Tobias' special brew was, took the small bottle gingerly, as though it was some unknown but dangerous-looking Pokémon.

"Uh-thanks!" he said. The boy bid farewell, warning him "It's strong, so dilute it!" as he left.

When the boy had gone, Cyril shook his head. He had been close to getting too friendly with one of his Pokémon! What had he been thinking? He looked at the small bottle of Moltres' Fury. He could just about do with a stiff drink right now! He got out a shot glass and, forgetting the boy's advice, filled it to the brim and knocked back the whole glass of neat Moltres' Fury in one mouthful.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then Cyril felt pleasantly light-headed. This was quickly replaced by an unpleasant spinning sensation. The next thing Cyril knew, he was lying on the floor with a distinctly queasy stomach. He wasn't sure how long he was lying there for, but he was roused by his door chime.

Cyril got to his feet. "Hold on, Laurie!" he called, for he was expecting no-one else. He staggered over to the Lugia enclosure, crawled over to the entrance of the lair, and peered in. "When I call you, can you both swim out?" he asked. The Lugia-girl nodded. Cyril came out, and instructed the computer to lower the lift. When it came back up, Lawrence was there, accompanied by a boy, and what appeared to be Articuno! Cyril did a double-take, and then noticed how her face was more human than bird. Lawrence appeared to have an Articuno-girl, the same as he had a Lugia-girl.

"Lawrence!" he called. "It's good to see you!"

"Cyril, you're drunk!" said Lawrence, giving a pointed look at the bottle of Moltres' Fury Cyril had dropped on the floor. Fortunately, the stopper had been replaced, and the fall hadn't broken the bottle. "How much have you had?" Cyril picked up his shot glass.

"Only this much." he said.

"Diluted, I hope." said Lawrence. Cyril began to shake his head, but that made the room start to spin again, so he aborted the shake, settling for "No, neat." instead.

"Cyril! Weren't you warned to dilute it first?" Lawrence asked.

"Yes." said Cyril miserably. "But I forgot."

"We'll have to get some of Adele's hangover cure for you!" said Lawrence. "I've got a good mind to let you suffer, maybe it'd teach you to follow instructions, but I'm not that cruel."

"Well, to change the subject, look and see what my friend gave me!" he said. He turned to the Lugia-environment and shouted "Come out, both of you!" Cyril directed Lawrence's gaze with a pointing hand, as Rachel and Mrs Lugia both swam out.

The effect on Lawrence was immediate and dramatic. His mouth dropped open, and he let out an inarticulate cry. He blanched as white as the proverbial sheet, just before he collapsed in a faint. Cyril staggered over, as that was not the sort of reaction he had expected. The Articuno-girl reached him first.

"Laurie! Are you okay?" she cried. Her voice, at least, sounded human, Cyril noticed. Cyril reached Lawrence's side at about the same time as the boy did. The boy also seemed concerned. Cyril noticed the boy seemed to be wearing part of a Pikachu costume.

Lawrence came around. He was still pale, and looked fearfully over at where the two Lugia-types were peering out through the glass.

"Let them go, Cyril!" Lawrence said. "The world's in danger!"

Mrs Lugia, in the meantime, had seen Lawrence's collapse, and sensed his distress. **The world is in no peril as a result of my capture, but the world is slightly out of balance.** she told him. **Do not panic.**

**How come? **he asked, slipping easily into mind-speak. **You seem different from last year. Are you a different Lugia?**

**I cannot, dare not, say! **she responded, and the distress in her thought-voice brought tears to Lawrence's eyes. What, he wondered, could distress a Guardian so? He looked up at Cyril.

"Thanks to you, I'm going to need a change of underwear, and trousers. Can I borrow something of yours long enough for me to nip back to my machine for my own stuff?" Cyril went red, and had the good grace to look abashed.

"Okay, I'll find you something." he said.

When he did, Lawrence was very glad he was going back to his own machine to change. The only underpants big enough to fit were a startling pink-purple, and the only comfortable trousers were of an orange-red so violent that he risked severe G.B.H. of the eyeballs just by looking at them. Sighing, he put them on.

"I'm going to go back and change." Lawrence told Cyril. "While I'm out, please try and work out what's up with Lugia. It's very upset. The other isn't a Lugia. It's the wrong shape, and too small. See if you can find out what it is. You're going to have to let Lugia go, Cyril! It spoke into my mind. It wouldn't tell me what the problem is, it seemed scared to death of something. It's also desperately unhappy. Something's very wrong here! See if you can find out what's up."

"I'll try, Laurie." Cyril said. "Neither has spoken to me, however, and you know how bad I am at psychic communication!" Lawrence nodded.

"Just do your best." he said. Then, he went out.


	5. George and John

Chapter Five

George and John.

Lawrence nipped back to his machine, and changed his trousers and underwear, cramming Cyril's bright things into a bag, to be washed. He briefly considered losing them, so Cyril couldn't inflict them upon the world, but decided he didn't have the right. He had a frozen packet of Adele's hangover cure in his freezer, and put it in the bag for Cyril. He decided to take the scenic route, around the island beaches, to give Cyril a chance to find out what was up. If Tobias found out about the Lugia in Cyril's machine, he'd have a pink fit!

As he was walking on the beach, Lawrence stopped, as he heard something. He waited. There it was again. It sounded like a whimper. As he heard it again, he turned his head towards a large arrangement of rocks, on the beach further inland, towards the cliff. He approached, hearing another whimper. He carefully walked around the rocks, to find, curled up behind them and in obvious pain, a Lugia not much longer than two metres in length!

As soon as it noticed his presence, it startled, backing off in fear. As it curled its tail inward, Lawrence saw a recent-looking injury at the base of the Lugia's tail. He crouched, held out his hands to show they were empty of any weapon, and spoke gently to the little Lugia.

"Hey, okay there, what's wrong with your tail, little Guardian?" He hoped that the small Lugia could understand. The Lugia Cyril had in his machine could understand him, but that was an adult, and he got the feeling that this was an infant. Could an infant Lugia understand human speech? He hoped that the tone of his voice would convey his genuine concern. He heard a voice reply in his head.

**Don't hurt me! Please! Don't catch me!**

**I promise I won't hurt you or catch you.** Lawrence said, slipping easily into thinkspeak. **What happened to your tail?**

**A man hurt it when he caught me. He put something in my tail, and he's taken my Mum away!** The Lugia let out a long, low, mournful note, lifting its head to the sky, two glistening tears dropping from its eyes to the sand. **Dad said Mum's agreed to be captive in my place, and if she escapes or we rescue her, the man can find me because of what's in my tail, even if I hide, and he'll capture me, so she can't come back, But I miss her! I want my mum!**Several more distressed calls and tears followed the first.

**I think I know where your mum is.** said Lawrence. **Do you want me to take you to her? I promise you won't be hurt or captured.**

**Please!** the little Lugia said, jumping up. **Please! **it said, nosing him urgently.

**Okay, come with me. Do you have a name? **Lawrence asked.

**Lu. Call me Lu. **the young Lugia said.

Call me Laurie. Lawrence replied.

Lu came willingly enough with Lawrence, who hastened his pace. Lawrence was beginning to work out what had happened. Lu had been captured by Cyril's friend. The one he currently had in his machine had taken Lu's place so Lu could go free. The man had made sure she'd not escape, or be rescued, by making sure he could recapture Lu if she did. He'd probably made her promise not to speak of it either, or the same thing would happen. No wonder she was so scared and unhappy! The tracking mechanism must be what caused the injury to his tail.

**I happen to know that a very nice Pokémon and people doctor is coming to the island very soon, and I know she could take the transmitter out. That means your Mum could return to you! **Lawrence said.

**She really would? Oh please, please!** Lu said, gazing up at Lawrence imploringly.

As they rounded another rocky outcrop, and moved onto the next beach, they noticed several things. A metal crate, looking slightly rusted, stood on the beach, a ropy-looking helicopter was landed close by, and an equally manky-looking boat was pulled up on the shore. There were two people about thirty metres from the crate. they were crouching, looking at what appeared at first to be a bundle of feathers lying in the sand. The feathers were fire-coloured. Lawrence hastened his step. Had something happened to Moltres? As if in answer, the three birds (still calling in distress) flew past. Ah, not Moltres then.

They could now see that it was definitely bird-shaped, but Lawrence, knowing about the coming ceremony, guessed it was an islander in costume.

"Can I help?" he asked. The two men, one larger than the other straightened up.

"Um-do you know somewhere we could rest up, and she can?" said the smaller of the two.

"And eat?" the other said. "We've been living on Shellders and Cloysters for the last few days, and the ones we've got left are so scared that we haven't got the heart to eat them."

"Come back with me, Cyril can provide both." Lawrence replied. The larger of the two bent to pick up the prone islander, then looked up in panic.

"George!" he said to his companion. "Her breathing's gone funny!"

"Hang on, I'll give her an antidote." the smaller man, George, said. He opened what Lawrence recognised as a doctor's bag, and gave the islander a shot of something. Something strange was going on here, but Lawrence decided to see if he could gain their trust, and gauge whether they were a threat to the island before asking. The bigger man picked up the island girl, whose laboured-sounding breathing did seem to be getting easier. The two cast several curious glances in Lu's direction, but neither asked any questions.

They soon reached Cyril's machine. By this time the island girl was waking up. She was rather disorientated, so once Cyril had brought them up in the lift, Lawrence asked Cyril for a bed to place the girl in. Cyril led the bigger man to where he could put her. He lay her gently on the bed, and said he wanted to stay by her. Cyril nodded.

"Are you John?" he asked. "I'm sure I know you from somewhere."

"Yeah." John replied. "You were our look-out on the bank job. You helped us get some other not-quite-legal supplies that fell off the back of a lorry too. You seem to be doing fairly well for yourself these days."

"Yes." said Cyril. "You must excuse me, but I think Lawrence wants to talk to me."

Lawrence quickly explained to Cyril what he'd worked out. Cyril explained that, despite his best efforts, all his lines of questioning just made the Lugia and Lugia-girl more distressed.

"All I know is that the Lugia-girl understands the purpose of clocks and can read them." he said.

"This is Lu. Lu, this is Cyril." he said.

**Can I see my mum? Please?** Lu asked Cyril. he had to repeat it, and increase the volume for Cyril, as he'd pointed out, found psychic communication difficult. Cyril pointed Lu towards the Lugia-environment and took him in, unlocking the door for him. Lu darted in, calling **Mum? MUM! **so loudly that even Cyril could hear it.

**LU!** came the mother's psychic reply, also bellowed so loud all present heard her.

**MUM!** cried Lu.

**You haven't been recaptured, have you?**

**No. the nice man outside said you were here and brought me here to see you!**

Lawrence, in the meantime, was explaining to Cyril in more detail. As he finished his account of how he'd noticed Lu's injury, George tapped him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. My name's George, by the way. I've had medical training, but I'm not qualified officially as a doctor, I wasn't able to take my final year." A dark shadow passed over his face. "Family problems, but you don't want to know the details. I do, however, have practical experience of surgery, and could quite easily remove the foreign body from the small Lugia's tail for him."

"I guess that would be up to the small Lugia." said Cyril.

"Or his mother." said Lawrence. "He's just a child, Cyril, even you should be able to sense that."

Cyril decided he should check on his Lugia-types. After five minutes in the lair with them, he came out with Lu, Lu's mother (whom Lu was sticking to like glue) and the Lugia-girl. Cyril had one arm around the Lugia-girl, who seemed quite happy about it. Lawrence took one look, and realised it was Rachel, the island girl from the Island guest-house. It was her and her father who had rescued him from Lightning Island. A few days after he left, he'd heard she'd gone missing. Kidnap was suspected.

"Rachel?" he asked. George swung round, saw the Lugia-girl, and smiled, but wiped the smile before any of the others could get suspicious. Rachel didn't seem to notice George. She looked at Lawrence, and whimpered, burying her face in Cyril's chest. Both Lawrence and Cyril (who was carrying Mrs Lugia's egg carefully in his other arm) were surprised at her reaction.

"This is the reaction I got when I asked what was wrong while you were out." Cyril said.

"Let's sit down and cook the sausages." Lawrence said. "we can all relax then. I'll add my link to Cyril's so there's enough."

"Did someone mention food?" said John, who was coming through from the other room with the island girl, who, now her costume head was off, Lawrence could see bore a strong facial resemblance to Rachel. Her hair though, instead of brown like Rachel's and her father's, was red like Mrs Farraday's.

They all sat down, Cyril passing the egg to Mrs Lugia, who put a wing over it, and the other wing over her son. Cyril put on all the sausages, and was surprised when the Lugia-girl reached over and turned the heat down.

"She's right, Cyril, they're meant to be cooked slowly." He turned to the Lugia-girl.

**Rachel, it's me, Laurie. You know me. What's the problem? Why won't you speak?** For a moment, Lawrence thought she wasn't going to answer, but then she did reply.

**The man said that if either I or Mrs Lugia talked, or gave any impression that we could communicate, or told your friend Cyril what had happened, he'd recapture Lu! **she said.

**That's dreadful! You needn't worry about that, Cyril wouldn't tell him anyway! Anyway, George here has said he'll take the transmitter out of him. **Rachel looked at George, and it could have been Lawrence's imagination, but he thought he felt her stiffen beside him. Then she relaxed. George smiled and nodded.

Lawrence then told Cyril what Rachel had told him.

"I wouldn't tell him! That's appalling!" he said to Rachel.

"Perhaps you can show Rachel where your food supplies are, Cyril. She makes a lovely sauce-if you'd like to that is." He addressed this last to Rachel. She looked at him, gave him a brief smile, and nodded.

Cyril took Rachel to his food storage area, and in a short time she was cooking a most delicious-smelling sauce. It proved to be as yummy as it looked, and they all tucked in. All except Lu, who was going to have to be knocked out to have the radio-transmitter removed from his tail. Cyril put one aside in some sauce, and told him he could have it later. Mrs Lugia ate one, but that was all, Everyone else had two, which filled a hole.

Then George found a piece of smooth uncarpeted floor, wiped it with some antiseptic wipes, and got Lu to lie down on it. Lu complied, and George shooed out everybody except John, who would assist him. Then he got John to shoot a couple of darts into Lu to knock him out.

While waiting, Cyril turned to look at Rachel. "Are you human? Hey, don't be scared to tell me, once George has taken out the transmitter, the threat will be gone. If it makes you any easier, I can put a little nametag on you and treat you as though I don't know if he turns up." Rachel nodded, and Mrs Lugia too asked for the same protection, just to be certain. Cyril got some cardboard and wrote out a small nametag for Rachel. "I can't put your real name on, or he'll wonder how i know it and then guess you've told me, so I'll say I've called you Marina for now." he said. He wrote under the name "Property of Cyril." he put it on a piece of velvet ribbon, and tied it loosely around her neck. He made a similar nametag for Mrs Lugia. He kept her nickname of Mrs Lugia, and attached hers around her neck by way of a couple of his brightly-coloured belts joined together. "There!" he said. "You can take them off whenever you feel like it."

He turned to Rachel. "I'd love for you to talk to me, Are you a human?"

"Yes, she is." said Lawrence, just as Rachel herself nodded.

"That's wonderful! I was starting to worry that I was getting romantic inclinations towards a Pokémon!"

At that moment, George came through. He held up the radio transmitter he'd wrapped up in one of Cyril's bright shirts: Cyril's face dropped when he saw the blood on it.

"Okay, it's out." he said. "Lu is resting in the other room. Now, I'd like to suggest a payment for my services."

"Okay." said Cyril. He was a bit doubtful. He knew that John didn't tend to hang around with the most salubrious of people. John had been getting involved with Team Rocket when Cyril met him. Lawrence had given no indication that George expected payment. Then again, from the look on Lawrence's face, it was as big a surprise to Lawrence as it was to Cyril.

George pointed at first Rachel, and then Julie. "I want them! They were mine originally, but they slipped their ropes!"

"Hey! You can't just treat people like that!" Lawrence said. "Rachel has a home! I bet you didn't ask any of your Pokémon people if they wanted to join in this grand plan of yours!"

John had turned up, and suddenly he had his dart gun in his hand. "You know too much!" he snarled, and shot a dart into Lawrence. He looked down in surprise, and then fell to the ground unconscious.


	6. The Plan

Chapter Six.

The Plan.

All hell broke loose as Lawrence fell. The costumed island-girl screamed. Julie screeched and blizzarded, then rushed over to where Lawrence had fallen, and Mrs Lugia knocked John and George off their feet, and curled protectively around her egg. Rachel rushed over to the costumed islander crying "Fiona! Hide! They're dangerous!" John came running over too, after picking himself off the ground. He took Fiona's hands in his and said "I won't let you be changed, even if he does think you'd look good as a Moltres! I told him I don't want you changed! You're beautiful as you are!"

"Can we all try and calm down, I'm sure we can sort this out in a civilised manner." said Cyril. John turned towards him, dart-gun in hand.

"Are you going to shoot me, John?" Cyril asked him. "After everything we've been through? I'm just trying to calm the situation down. Perhaps you could explain this plan-we might be able to help. I'm sure Laurie's been involved in a couple of less-than-legal pursuits in his rebellious and mis-spent youth!"

"He'd make a good Zapdos." George said.

"He'd probably be more useful for helping to fund the plan. Even underhand schemes tend to cost money." Cyril said. George took one look at Julie, noticed she was gearing up for another blizzard, and said "Okay. I'll tell you about it."

"Can you revive Lawrence first, or you'll just have to repeat it when he wakes up. He could provide you with the financial clout you need." George agreed, and Lawrence was soon sitting up and moaning "Oh, my head!" George handed him some headache tablets. Then Lu came through, with a dressing on his tail and a Lugia-sized headache, so George gave Lu some headache pills too. They all settled down, and he stated to tell his story.

He started off by explaining that he was from an abusive home, where his father had regularly handed out beatings to he and his mother. His mother had turned alcoholic as a result. George had tried to escape by going to medical school to become a doctor. He wanted to help people, but had had to come home the year he was to do his final year because he feared that if she continued to take all the beatings herself, they'd eventually kill her. In effect, he'd gone home to be a punch-bag. The theory was, his mother would only receive half the numbers of beatings because George would be taking the other half. John, too, had had a lousy childhood, being called "Oy you," by his family, and eventually ending up in a children's home where he could only survive by becoming a bigger bully than the ones who picked on him.

George's father had eventually been arrested, and his mother put in a drying-out clinic. He and John had met in Team Rocket. George had had two Pokémon by then, a Rattata and a Koffing, but he'd had to give them up when Team Rocket decided he should channel all his energies into research. John had had his Grimer and Koffing bullied off him by another tougher Rocket. George had met his other partner in the changing business at Team Rocket too. Colin was another scientist currently in charge of the lab that George had for changing people. Colin didn't know it, but the first person George had changed had been Colin's daughter, Amanda. A wall had fallen on her, and he'd given her parts of a dead Pikachu he had to make sure she lived. But he got over-enthusiastic on the science side, and had given her cheek pouches and a tail to see if she could use Pikachu skills. The ears and fur he'd added mainly for the look. Then he'd bullied her into only speaking in Pikachu, in the hope she'd end up being able to translate. However, she was now too scared to, or had forgotten how to, speak like a human. Colin helped look after Amanda, but didn't realise she was his daughter. He believed her killed when the wall fell on her.

"Then I went on to change a young Team Rocket trainee, Christy." he said. "I was just so caught up in the science of it! When some of the other Rockets found out, even they thought it was horrible. I'd planted a Bulbasaur seed on her back. They decided to sack me, but John, and I fled early so they wouldn't take Christy and Amanda off me. Colin came and joined us later.

By then I'd formulated the Plan. I'm going to use my Pokémon people to paralyse the armies and take over the world! Then when I'm top dog, I'll change the laws about child abuse. I'll raise the penalty to death! All the Pokémon people will get top positions."

"Those that survive, you mean." Lawrence said.

"What do you mean? Of course they'll survive! The armies will be paralysed!"

"Well" said Lawrence, ticking off points on his fingers. "Firstly, the armies must have some contingency plan against terrorists-because that's how they'll view you. Secondly, you'll have to take ordinary people into account. Cyril's friend saw Ash here as some sort of freak. I doubt he's the only one. People will be scared of your Pokémon people-and it's basic human instinct, primitive but still active, to destroy what they don't understand because it might be a threat to them!"

"You really think so?" asked George. He had gone pale.

Ash then spoke up.

"Sir, I came to find you because some of the grunts are trying to kill off some of the other people! They're worried you're going soft, they've locked up Paul and Martin for being too gentle and caring, and they're putting sedative into the food of Jenny, Keith, Vicky, and the Squirtle girl because they think they're useless! They're thinking of getting rid of the Persian boy and the Pikachu girl too!"

"Look, why don't we at least ask someone else impartial, like an islander, if they think the plan will work or not." said Lawrence.

"Okay." said George, who was obviously still recovering from hearing that the people might get hurt.

"We can ask at the nearest hut when we come out." said Cyril.

"By the way, Cyril, where's that Pikachu you were worried about?" asked Lawrence. Ash looked up.

"Over here." said Cyril, leading them over to the Pikachu environment. He opened the door, and then had to move out of the way as Pikachu had spotted Ash and leaped into his arms with a cry of "Pikash!"

"Pikachu!" cried Ash.

"There, you see, Cyril, all it wanted was it's trainer." Lawrence said.

"You mean he took the boy's Pikachu from him? Well, of course, he must take it back, it was so miserable without him!"

"Thank you so much!" said Ash, close to tears as he hugged Pikachu close.

Lu and Ash both chose to stay behind, Lu to finish recovering, and to eat his sausage, Ash to spend some time with Pikachu, keep an eye on Lu, and to look after Mrs Lugia's egg, which had been placed in some conforming bedding and sat upon an electric heat-pad.

They went out, and almost bumped into Cyril's friend, who had a couple of pokéballs at his belt.

"I'm just going to try and catch that Mantine." he said. He looked up at Rachel and Mrs Lugia. "They're behaving themselves, are they?" he asked.

"Yes, they're very docile and friendly, everything I would look for in a Pokémon." said Cyril. He reached up to indicate Mrs Lugia's name tag, and gestured at Rachel's. "You can see I've put a collar on them, just for the tags. They don't need leads, they come with me anyway. They like me."

"And your two?" he asked Lawrence. He looked at Julie. "I saw you've taken that one out of the force-field."

"Yes, I have." he said. "I get much more enjoyment from having her out. And as for Ash, he will soon be displayed for the whole island to see!"

"Okay, I'll see you later!" said Cyril's friend. He went off.

They saw a hut about five minutes away, and went to it. George knocked on the door, and a female voice called "Hang on! I'm coming!" The door opened, and a black-haired woman looked out. Her face broke into a smile.

"Come in, come in! I don't often get visitors!" Her eyes went to Mrs Lugia, and she abruptly lowered her eyes and dropped to her knees.

"Guardian-I don't know what to say. This is an unexpected honour! What do you want of me?"

**Just listen to these people, and give your honest opinion. **Mrs Lugia said, loud enough for all to hear.

"Certainly!" said the woman. "My name's Donna, by the way."

Donna led them all in, and put on some of her own Shamouti sausages in a pan. She then poured out some fruit juice, having enough to pour some into a large bowl for Mrs Lugia. Then she served them all one sausage each, with a dollop of some sauce which Rachel and Fiona had set to making.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Donna asked. Before anyone could react, John had the gun out, and Donna was looking with mild shock at a red-fletched dart sticking out of her tanned upper arm. Then her eyes closed, and she seemed to fold up.

"John! We're here to talk about the Plan to her!" said George. You're too trigger-happy! I don't want to change her, anyway. She's beautiful!" George picked her up, and took her over to the curtained-off bed and put her on it. Fiona, after giving John a hard stare, walked over to see if she could help.

George gave Donna an antidote, then asked Fiona to bring Donna's fruit juice over. As she woke up, he helped her to sit up, gave her two headache pills, and helped her wash them down with fruit juice. "I'm sorry, John's a bit trigger-happy." he told her. A rather abashed John, who, to George's surprise, had actually began to cry, approached Fiona.

"I've put the gun down, please forgive me!" he pleaded with her.

"Only if you promise not to shoot anyone else!" she said. Fiona then looked at George.

"Did I hear someone say you're a doctor?"

"Yes." George said.

"Please, then, come and help my mother, and bring Rachel back! Since Rachel went missing, Mum doesn't eat much, only sleeps when she collapses from exhaustion, and she's burnt her hand! We don't have a doctor here on Shamouti Island, we have to book up two weeks in advance with a doctor on the mainland, and Mum's worked out if she does that, she'll be away when some of the tourists are coming to the guest house, so she's decided to put off having her burn treated till after the festival. Please treat her arm, I'm sure it would be better to treat it sooner!"

"Yes, it would. But let me talk to Donna about the Plan." George said.

He explained to Donna all about the Plan, and what it entailed.

"That's scary, and your Pokémon people are all bound to get hurt. People don't like change, they'll revolt against anything too extreme. You'll have people attacking your Pokémon people with kitchen knives and garden forks. Anything that can be used as a weapon will be. And it won't be you they'll attack, it'll be those on the front line-your Pokémon people."

"But Keith's only small! I rescued him from the road, where he'd been dumped! He trusts me! I don't want him hurt!" George said. "Do you have a radio I could use?"

"Yes." said Donna. "I've got the sort where you can see the user at the other end, if that's the sort you've got."

"It is." said George. "Thanks!" She showed him, and he turned it on. Donna went out.

George returned about fifteen minutes later. "Karl and I have had a little talk. About love, of all things, and of what love is and isn't. I've told him that love, real love, take into account the people you love, their wants and needs, and it's struck me that I've not been considering the wants and needs of the Pokémon people. If I'm not, what are the grunts doing? Are they in it for the cause, or do they have their own agenda, like power and money? I've been giving out the wrong signals, and that's why this must stop." He turned to Rachel.

"I'm going to take you home, Rachel, because your mother and family obviously need you. I will also treat your mother's arm." Rachel threw her wings around him.

"Thank you!" she said.

Lawrence waved for George's attention. "If you're not going ahead with the Plan, perhaps I could ask you to consider becoming a doctor for this island. You heard what Fiona said about the islanders having to wait two weeks for a mainland spot at the doctor's. This island becomes incredibly crowded at tourist time. That's why Cyril's sister visits for the duration of the festival, but two weeks is all she can stay, because she visits all the other islands that don't have doctors. She visits this one twice a year as well as Festival time, but only for a week in February and a week in November. This island needs a doctor."

"I told you." George said. "I never did my final year."

"I could pay your fees to retake." said Lawrence, at the same time as Donna said "We of the Island could sponsor you." and Cyril spoke up, chiming in "My sister could train you."

George looked at the three, and then said "Really?"

"Yes." said Cyril. "My sister needs all the help she can get, especially on this island at Festival time. If you become a doctor here, she wouldn't have to worry about visiting any other time but Festival time, which would take some of the pressure off."

"I don't mind paying for your training, if this island gets the doctor it needs. I'd like to find a way to thank the islanders for their kindness since last year. Helping them get a much-needed doctor seems to fit the bill. I could even pay some towards your wages once you qualify, and help you buy some of the equipment you'd need"

"The islanders can build you a basic surgery building." said Donna.

George looked up at Donna. He'd noticed it before, something about her voice, but he'd been too involved explaining the Plan and then having to persuade Karl that he wasn't going to hurt the Pokémon people with love of the wrong sort to query it before.

"Is that a Celadon accent?" he asked her. She wrinkled her small nose in distaste.

"Yes. I had a pretty lousy life there. I was neglected, left out at night, worked like a slave and fed on cheap pokéchow, until I turned sixteen and they turned me out then minutes after midnight on my birthday! Luckily, I had friends." She put her hands to the Pokéballs on her belt, releasing a powerful-looking Houndoom, an Umbreon which also looked fierce, a Ditto, a Tangela, and a Murkrow. George's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Are they friendly? Can I touch them?" Donna nodded.

"As long as you're not threatening to my guests or I, they're quite friendly." George looked nervous.

"Is that a threat?" he asked. Donna shook her head.

"No, just a statement of fact. When my mother discovered I had Pokémon against all her wishes-even thought I didn't keep them at home, and shared my usual ration of pokéchow with them-she went to hit me." She pointed at the Houndoom. "Sam there stopped her, and Noser"-here she pointed at the Murkrow, which was wandering over towards John- "growled at her. My Murkrows-I had two of them, then-both were ready to defend me if she tried again. She had the sense not to-not to mention having been scared out of her wits!"

Noser the Umbreon, in the meantime, had reached John. The dart-gun was lying, forgotten, under the chair he was sitting on. Noser found it, sniffed at it, and pulled away. Then it picked the gun up in it's jaws. Before anyone could say anything, it had trotted over to the sand-box Donna had in the corner, dropped the gun in it, and pointedly did it's business directly on the dart-gun. It then promptly buried it, and trotted back over to Donna.

"Noser!" she said quite mortified at her Pokémon's behaviour. She looked, red-faced, at the startled look on John's face, then looked over at George. He was trying not to smile, and failing miserably. Donna gave up, and dissolved into giggles.

When their merriment had subsided, George carefully stroked Donna's Pokémon, admiring the condition and shiny coats and feathers and eyes of her Pokémon. "I wish I had a Dark Pokemon." he said wistfully, looking admiringly at Sam, Noser, and the Murkrow, which she informed him was called Beaky. "The Houndour I put in with Carley, that I was planning to use to change her, has bonded to her, and evolved, and won't even let me in the room!"

"I might be able to help you there." said Donna. She extracted a wrapped bundle from behind the stove. Unwrapping it, she exposed an egg. "I found Sam and my Ditto, Jelly, around this one morning." she said. "I contacted a mainland Nurse Joy, told her about it, and she said when a Ditto mates with another Pokemon, you usually get the youngest evolution of the non-Ditto parent's form. That should mean this will hatch as a Houndour. I don't need another Houndour, so I don't see why you shouldn't have this. Carry it about with you and keep it warm-it should eventually hatch."

"Thank you!" said George. "How can I ever thank you!"

"Well, I could use your help during the Festival if you'll be here." she said.

"As long as I can help my people on the mainland first." he said, holding the egg to his ear. He pulled his head away. "It's making noises in there! It must be close to hatching!"

"Well, yes, of course we can help your people first! The festival isn't for another week and a half or so!" said Donna.

"Okay, how can I be of aid?" asked George.

"I'm doing the Ecruteak Legend this year-for Ecruteak have got a big bird and three other legendaries involved in a legend too, but instead of three legendary bird Titans, Ecruteak has three legendary dogs. I had three people to play the Fire dog Entei, the Ice-dog Suicune, and the Electric dog Raikou, but none of them can make it. The only part I've got someone for is Ho-oh-I'm playing Ho-oh. Unless I can find three people to play the dogs, I won't be able to do it. I've made all the costumes, and it seems all my efforts will come to nothing."

George got up, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Let's see the costumes. I'll be a dog for you." Donna got up, and opened a cupboard. She pulled out three costumes. Entei was brown and white, shaggy, with a big head carefully made. Raikou's costume was bigger, yellow and white and green, with a blue spiky tail. Suicune was white and blue and mauve, with two ribbons sewn on to the rear as a tail.

"I'll try the Entei costume-I like Entei." George said. He did, and it fit him well.

"Let me try the Raikou costume." said John, unexpectedly. "I'll be a dog if the Raikou costume fits-but I don't want to wear the one with ribbons on the bum!" Donna tried not to laugh, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles.

"That's it's tail!" she said.

"I don't care! I still don't want ribbons on my bum!"

"Can I try that?" Cyril said. "I don't mind the ribbons, and I love blue and mauve."

"Sure!" said Donna, delighted.

"I want to be in the ceremony, and this would be perfect!" said Cyril, as he put the bright outfit on. In the meantime, John found that the Raikou costume was big enough even for him.

Cyril, too found that his costume fit, and Donna was delighted.

"Five minutes ago, I thought I'd never be able to find people in time! Now I have three! Thank you!" she said. George saw something else in Donna's cupboard.

"What's this?" he said, drawing out a feathered top with wing-like sleeves. The feathers were pitch black.

"Oh, something I made out of the dozens and dozens of feathers I collected. I wrote letters to Elite Four Will and Elite Four Karen asking for feathers, for my Ho-Oh costume. I also wrote a letter to Falkner. I had three Murkrows to start with-I traded two of them later-but over the time I've had them, I got loads of feathers. Ho-Oh doesn't have any black feathers, and I found I had loads of Murkrow feathers, so I made that out of them. I also made this." she said, taking out a set of Zapdos wings (made from dyed Pidgey feathers and Murkrow feathers and cut to shape) and a tail. A beak followed, and a set of black feather shorts. "I was making a Zapdos costume, but I can't finish it in time. The boy who played Zapdos last year has entered puberty and grown too big for his last costume. We need someone small."

"I'll see about bringing Keith." said George. "He's small. He's twelve."

"So was the boy last year." said Donna. "It might work."

"Can you bring those things with you? I've got an idea. How about we go and see Rachel's mother now?" George said.

"Okay." said Cyril. "But let's pick up Ash and Lu from my machine."

So they went to Cyril's machine, to pick up Ash and Lu. Cyril decided to take some of his Pokémon with him. He entered the Eevee-type enclosure. There were two Eevee, one Flareon (curled around an egg) one Jolteon, and a Vaporeon. The Vaporeon was faster than Cyril expected, shooting out between his legs. As he turned to watch it, he saw it heading for the Magikarp pool he had. It entered with a huge splash. There was an odd glow, and a red-_red!-_Gyarados was suddenly rearing out of the Magikarp pool. Cyril went over, and talked softly to the Gyarados. It lowered it's head, let out a soft growl, and rubbed it's head against his chest.

"It's okay!" he called to the others, who had all backed off. "It's friendly! I think it's the golden Magikarp that's evolved! Can someone help me put it in the Lugia-lair? It needs more water now!" Rachel went over to help, and took the tail. They put it in the enclosure, and the Vaporeon followed them in. It promptly dived in the water, and seemed a lot happier.

"It seems happy in there. Leave it, it can keep the Gyarados company." Cyril told her.

He went back to the Eevee enclosure. The Jolteon seemed to be constantly licking it's leg. "I can help that." said George. He took some Sellotape and cardboard, and soon fashioned a cardboard collar, which he put on the Jolteon so it couldn't lick it's leg. George than dressed the leg.

"I think it's bored." said George.

"Then I'll take it with me!" said Cyril. He put a leash on it, and a leash on one of the Eevee-when he managed to catch up with it-it was racing around the enclosure. He looked at the other Eevee, which was the opposite-very limp. He saw it had gone over to John. He'd picked it up and was tickling it's tummy. It was wriggling with pleasure.

"Would you like that Eevee?" he asked John.

"Yes please!" said John, looking shocked but delighted.

"It's more active than it has been. It likes you! It's a rare female Eevee. I'll give you some enhancers, and if you make it happy, and train it in the day, it'll turn into a psychic Espeon. If you make it happy, and train it at night it'll turn into an Umbreon, like Donna's."

"Thank you!" said John, hugging his Eevee tight. Cyril took the active Eevee and the Jolteon out on leashes.

He then went to his bird-enclosure. Seeing a black bundle on the ground, he picked it up and gave it a revive and a hyper potion. He then sat it on his shoulder. George noticed a white Murkrow in the enclosure. It spotted him at the same time, and it flew past Cyril and out of the enclosure, to George. It sat on his shoulder, said "Mur!", and started pecking at a stray lock of hair on George's head. George looked delighted!

"Aren't you gorgeous!" he said to it.

"Would you like to keep it?" Cyril said. "It likes you, and fights with the others, because it's different."

"You-you'd let me keep him?" George said, looking like a child who'd got more than he'd hoped for at Christmas.

"Yes, as long as you look after him." he said.

"Of course I will!" said George.

Cyril picked up his Pichu, and took a Squirtle (which he gave to Lawrence, because he asked for it.) Then he let Julie and Rachel choose some Pokémon. Julie chose a Pikachu, and Rachel chose a Bulbasaur. He offered Fiona a Pokémon, and she chose a Charmander. He handed out pokéchow and enhancers to all who had taken a Pokémon. "These will make them stronger and happy." he said.

Cyril picked up a Blastoise, and a Charizard, giving the Charizard Mrs Lugia's egg to carry. It kept it warm under one wing. Then they came out, and set off to the guest house.

They went to the guest house, and Fiona used her key to get in. "Mum!" she called. Her mother came rushing up.

"Fiona!" she said. "I was beginning to worry about you!"

George was shocked to see Rachel's mother. He had seen her, briefly, several months ago, when he came to get information about Lugia, and had then taken Rachel back with him to change. She was so thin and drawn! One arm was wrapped in a clean white hanky, and held loosely against her chest.

"Mrs Farraday." he said, approaching her. "We've brought Rachel back, and I'm a doctor. I want to treat that burn!"

"Rachel?" cried her mother. "Where?"

"Mum!" cried Rachel, rushing into her mother's arms.

"Rachel! You're alive! You are!" Mrs Farraday cried. "Come in! I'll cook your favourite food!" Rachel's mother tried to draw Rachel into the kitchen, but Rachel resisted, instead trying to take her mother into the sitting room.

"No, you won't! I'll cook something for all of us, while George dresses your arm!" she said. "Fiona can help me, can't you, Fiona." she said.

"Of course!" said Fiona. They both managed to get their mother into the sitting room and sat her down, so George could dress her arm. Then they went into the kitchen to cook. Lawrence flopped into a chair, and, the others followed his example, and settled in too. Then Rachel's mother spotted Lu. She dropped to her knees.

"Small Guardian! I must get you some food!"

**No, let him treat your arm. **said Lu**. Rachel and Fiona will take care of me!**

George was glad Lu was there: Mrs Farraday stopped resisting and let George bind her arm. A delicious smell started to drift out of the kitchen, and although all present (except Mrs Farraday) had eaten recently, their mouths began to water.

Ten minutes later, Rachel came out with some sausages in sauce and a glass of fruit juice for her mother. Fiona followed, with some more sausages in sauce and a bowl of fruit juice a moment later.

"We've got more cooking to do!" called Fiona. "Lu's mother is outside!"

Mrs Farraday insisted, then, on going outside to greet Mrs Lugia. She knelt before her.

**Please get up. **said Mrs Lugia. **I am pleased to meet you. You are tired, and must sleep. I will stay until you awaken. Go and sleep.**

"Yes, Guardian." said Rachel's mother meekly. She hugged Mrs Lugia, and George went up with her to help her to bed. They took up the egg, which Mrs Farraday put in a bed under the quilt, with the electric over and underblankets left on a low heat. George returned about ten minutes later.

"I'm glad Lu and his mother are around! I think they're the only ones she'll obey without question! I've talked to her, though, and she's agreed-with your permission-to take her back with me to help cook some food for people."

"Then I'm going back too!" said Fiona and Rachel together. They stopped, a little confused, and looked at each other. Then Fiona said "I'd better make sure there'll be no additional tourists over the next week or so-will that be long enough?"

"Absolutely!" said George. "I anticipate it'll be over in three days." Fiona went out, and returned with the booking book. "There's no-one slated to turn up this week-except for you and Cyril." This last was addressed to Lawrence.

"Well, unless you think it unwise, I'd like to come back and help myself." said Lawrence. Cyril agreed.

"Absolutely!" said George. He ticked off his fingers as he calculated the people he wanted. "Me, John, You, Lawrence, Cyril, Fiona, Rachel, Donna, Mrs Farraday, Julie, and Ash." He turned to Lu, who made a querying noise.

"I can't include you, Lu. For a start, your mother won't want to leave you, and she's too big. Also, it could be dangerous for you. I don't want to risk you with what could be a dangerous situation. Additionally, there's plenty for you to do around here. When I bring back some of the people, some of them may like to see you, and you can help then. That'll be okay, won't it?" he asked. Lu dipped his head in assent.

**I understand. **he replied. However, George could tell he was annoyed, but also _did_ understand.

George turned to Lawrence. "I'm going to need your assistance to transport everyone back, but you're also very well known. We'll need to explain your presence."

"I could transport people in my machine." Cyril offered. "I'm not so well known."

"No, we couldn't hide it. As Lawrence is known to own a distinctive machine, it'd be better to explain his presence. It might help if the grunts feel some of it is their idea. I've got an idea of how to explain Lawrence." He turned to Donna.

"Can you wear your Murkrow costume and pretend to be changed?" he asked her. Donna nodded.

"Okay."

"Fiona, bring your Moltres costume. I can pretend to change you." he told her. She nodded.

"Okay, then this is what we'll do." he said. He began explaining, and then explained it to the mother when she awoke.

Later that day, they all went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, and they wanted to be fresh and ready.


	7. Return to Violet

Chapter Seven.

Return to Violet.

George knocked on the door, holding his Murkrow-girl tightly, lest she make a break for freedom and run. Lawrence was holding Julie's leg-rope in one hand, the leg-rope of the subdued-looking Ash in the other. A new piece of copper wire gleamed on his leg. Cyril was holding Rachel's, and John was restraining a struggling Fiona. She was attempting to swear at them, but John's big hand muffled her voice effectively. Mrs Farraday stood quietly by, with three bulging carrier bags.

One of the grunts, whom George had already had reservations about, opened the door. "Ah, you're back!" he said. His gaze swpt the assembled group. "With newcomers as well!" he said.

"Stop nattering, and let us in before we're seen!" snapped George. "You do, I take it, want us to succeed? We mustn't be seen!" He swept past the grunt, and the others filed in behind him.

"Who are the others?" asked the grunt. Some of the other grunts turned up, aware that something slightly unusual had happened.

"This gentleman needs little introduction." he said, indicating Lawrence, who gave a little mock bow. "This is the collector Lawrence the Third. He came across John and I when we were training Julie and Rachel. John darted him, of course, and I did think to transform him into a Zapdos, but when he came around, we ended up talking, and came to an agreement. He's loaded, and has agreed to help finance the Plan! He wants a piece of the action, so here he is! I'm not sure what else we could do to return the favour, but maybe we can think of something."

"Hey, boss, wasn't he the guy who was trying to catch the birds?" asked the grunt who had opened the door.

"He is indeed." said George.

"Then why don't we give him the bird-people once the Plan's over?" asked the grunt.

"I think that's a wonderful idea!" Lawrence said, turning to look at first Julie, then Rachel, who both looked rather worried. "You can make me a set, surely! This girl"-and he indicated the struggling Fiona-"has already been earmarked as an excellent candidate for Moltres, and I'm sure you can find someone else to change into Zapdos. Then I'll have my set of birds. However, I want this brat as well." he said. He twitched Ash's leg-rope sharply. "He was the reason I had to buy a new machine, and I want him made an example of!" Ash looked up, rather concerned.

"Okay, that's agreed then!" said George. "If any of them get killed in the execution of the Plan, I'll find some others and change them to replace them for you." he said.

He turned then, to indicate Cyril. "This is one of Lawrence's shadier friends. He's helping out because he owes Lawrence a favour." He put his hand on Mrs Farraday's shoulder. "This is the mother of Rachel, and of that mouthy little madam John's holding. She's agreed to come here and cook for us, to be near her daughters. Her cooking is delicious!" This caused a stir among the increasingly large group of grunts. George guessed they'd been making do with microwave meals. "In any matter except for her daughters, you obey her!" Then he indicated Donna.

"This is Donna, an island girl I came across. She is also a good cook, and because she was so kind, I decided to include her in the plan. I thought it a suitable reward." One of the other grunts laughed nastily. He continued. "Lawrence was sold Ash by a man who caught him on the island. After finding out he belonged to John and I, he kindly returned him. The foul-mouthed maiden"-here he indicated the struggling Fiona-"is called Fiona, and will soon be our new Moltres!"

Fiona, upon hearing this, struggled all the more. She managed to wrench her mouth free of John's restraining hand. The grunts got a three-second sample of the foul language Fiona had learned from overheard fisherman's comments, and it was so raw that some of the younger grunts in the ever-growing crowd began to blush. George turned to face her.

"You'll learn some respect once you've been changed! John, take her to the operating room!" George said. John picked her up, and took her down.

"Now, where's these two grunts with bleeding hearts?" he asked.

"Martin and Paul? I'll go get them!" said another grunt. He disappeared, only to return with Paul and Martin, roughly holding them by the upper arms. they were two of the younger grunts, George noticed. Neither of them were over nineteen. He pushed them forwards. George looked down at them.

"We were just talking to the people, and trying to cheer them up!" said Martin.

"We weren't being disloyal!" said Paul.

Lawrence moved forwards, at that point, and lightly ran his hand over Martin's short blonde locks.

"Well, George, his colouring would be just right to finish the set. Don't you think so?" George looked at Lawrence, back down at Martin, and back up to Lawrence.

"Absolutely! I didn't expect to find a Zapdos candidate so close to home! Maybe I should check everyone else, see what use some of them might serve as, other than just grunts. Lawrence, you can bring Julie with you if you wish, and Ash if you must, but Cyril, I suggest you put Rachel in the kitchen with her mother. Take Donna down to cook with her as well." He pushed Donna towards him. "Oh yes, remind her we still have Fiona. Then you can come back, and help me deal with Martin and Paul." He looked up, to where a murmur had started up among the grunts. "Well? Any complaints? I'm sure we can find some Pokémon parts to put on you!" There were none. "Then I'm sure you must have work to do or other things you've left! So get to it!" Most of the grunts lost no time in doing so, but several hung around. Cyril disappeared with Rachel and Donna to the kitchen. Lawrence handed Ash's leg rope to a grunt. "Put him wherever he usually is. I don't want him damaged, I have my own plans for him." Lawrence said this with a sinister smile. The grunt didn't give anything away by his expression: he just took Ash's leg-rope and led him off.

Cyril returned, minus the girls. "Help me bring Paul and Martin through, would you?" George said. Martin had gone white, his eyes were wide with terror, and as George took hold of his shoulders to lead him through, he could feel him shaking. Casting his eyes around the corridor, he could see some grunts were still hanging around. "Come on, we don't have room for weaklings in this Plan!" He pulled Martin along. Cyril took hold of Paul, and pulled him similarly along. He took them into his operating room, and closed the door. As soon as he done this, George pulled the shaking boy to him, throwing his arms around him and holding him close. A warm moistness on his shoulder told him Martin had finally been unable to keep the tears back.

"It's okay, Martin, I'm sorry about that, but we have to act hard to fool the hard grunts. Any sign of weakness could make them turn on us. We're going to need people who care. The Plan's off, it's too dangerous and might not-in fact probably wouldn't-work." Martin looked up.

"You won't turn me into Zapdos? You approve of us caring for the Pokemon people. They're people too! They have feelings like the rest of us!"

"I know." said George. "It seems to me that if we're going to stop child abuse, we shouldn't do it by abusing other people. I won't change you if you don't want to be. But, with your permission, I'd like to change you temporarily, and give you Zapdos-style wings made of Jolteon fur. You should be able to thundershock, and I can give instructions that you're not to be punished for such incidents, as you can't yet control it. Only those present in this room will know that it isn't true." Martin smiled: it was clear that the idea of getting his own back on some grunts with no risk of being punished did appeal to him.

"And it won't be permanent? It can be removed? You won't make me keep it?" he asked. George nodded.

"Okay, I guess I'll go for it" he said. "if it'll help."

"It will." he said. "It'll give the grunts the impression that I'm tough, and you can thundershock and distract them. It'll also help plant in the idea that any one of them could be next. Perhaps they'll realise that being ruthless could mean that they could all be expendable."

He turned to where Fiona was dressed in most of her Moltres costume, but the beak had been removed carefully from the headpiece and carefully Latexed to her face. "I'll take you out in about an hour. I'll get Lawrence to take care of you." He turned to Lawrence. "Could you go to the kitchen with Paul, and get him a drink in the kitchen? Then send Donna in with enough cups of tea and Shamouti sausages for us all." Lawrence nodded, smiling at Paul, who gave him a tentative smile back. Then he said "You'd better lose the smile. You're scared stiff, remember?" As Paul stopped smiling, Lawrence put a frown on his face. He opened the door, pushed Paul forward and said "Come on you!" They went out. Julie meekly followed.

He dropped Martin off in the kitchen, asked Donna to take tea and sausages in to the operating room and then went out. He then went to check on the other Pokémon people. There was Christy, the girl George had told them about-had to be with the fully-flowering plant on her back. He saw one girl with a Vaporeon tail, ruff, and ears. The electric cage was where Ash had been put, He recognised the redhead he was sitting by-Misty, wasn't it? She appeared to have the claws that belonged to the sad-looking Golduck that occupied the cage next door. There were also two Raichu people, one boy and one girl, and an Electabuzz boy.

"Who are you?" Lawrence asked the boy.

"I'm Keith." he said back. "Where's George?"

"Working towards changing people back. To do that, he's got to pretend he's changing more people. The Plan's off though. It's too dangerous."

"I saw him over the radio last night." said Keith. "He said he could be my Dad, and take me to Shamouti Island with him." He gave a sudden, brilliant smile.

"Okay, just lie low and wait." Lawrence told him.

He checked on the woman covered in Jolteon fur in the cage next door to the Golduck's next. "I'm Jenny." she told him. "George doesn't like me because I don't obey him."

"Well, the Plan's off and we might need your help. Will you obey him to help the other Pokémon people?" She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Depends what you mean by that." she told him. Lawrence took out his Swiss army knife, the one with the most attachments and tools you could get. He selected the pliers option, put his arm in the cage. She shrank back, probably fearing brutality. He could see that she was already bruised.

He managed to get the pliers around the thick copper wire tightly wound around her ankle. Putting pressure on the wire finally caused it to snap. He withdrew the pliers, and she took off the wire and rubbed her legs.

"I mean, thundershock anyone who appears to pose a danger to you or anyone else." Lawrence told her, with a quick smile. "I'd put that loosely back on. You can remove it if you need to, now, but they'll get suspicious if they see you without it." She nodded, put the wire back on. "The Plan's off." he told her. "Plan B is to change all the Pokémon people back, take those who want to go home back home, and let others go elsewhere if they wish. Those who have no-where else are welcome to go to Shamouti Island with George. He's going to be a doctor there."

"He's got my support then." she pledged.

A grunt came around the corner. Lawrence immediately grabbed Julie's ankle, lifting her foot from the floor and turning it sole up.

"Okay, where's the pain?" He raised the pliers up, then used them to pick an imaginary stone from her foot. "Better?" he asked. Julie, cottoning on, said "Yes, Sir." Lawrence got to his feet, and put a finger under her chin, pushing it up till her eyes met his.

"Julie, you and the other people are all precious, all special. It'll be you who'll take over the world-and you and the other birds-Martin, Fiona, Rachel-are doubly precious-after the Plan has been carried out, you will all be _mine_!" He dropped his hand, and she nodded, swallowing, noticing the grunt hanging around out of the corner of her eye.

"And then, will you treat me kindly then?" she asked. Lawrence ran the back of his hand lightly down one cheek, down her neck, to her shoulder.

"My Articuno." he said. "Of course I will." he said. "I'll have my dream, my destiny. All four legendary birds, and the world not at peril. You're unique, precious, special! I could put you all on display in force-fields in my machine!" Julie pulled back, but Lawrence caught her by her upper wing, barring her retreat "On the other hand, you could all be on display but not in a force-field. You could all live with me, people could come in and see you as you are. Or I could have you all displayed in force-fields just for when people come around, so I can show you off. Then I could remove you from the force-fields for the rest of the time." He noticed the grunt watching him. "Of course, being released again straight after would depend on several things. Like whether I like your company, whether I want to be alone, whether you and Rachel and Fiona and Martin are good boys and girls. Bad behaviour could see you being left in the force-field for as long as I feel necessary." Julie nodded, then leaned against him, her forehead against his chest. He brought his hand up, caressed the back of her head lightly. "Good girl, but we don't have time now. Come! We'll see how the girls are doing in the kitchen." It was too dangerous, he decided, to check on any more Pokémon people at present.

He went to leave, then appeared to notice the grunt for the first time. "Yes?" he asked.

"Uh-nothing, sir, sorry." he said. "Uh, do you, uh, like her, sir?" he said.

"I like _all_ my bird people! They're unique and precious and I'll achieve my lifetime's ambition to possess all four. They also make more intelligent conversation than Pokémon!" he said, glad that Mrs Lugia wasn't around to hear him say that. The grunt nodded, and then quickly scurried off.

Lawrence got to just outside the door of the kitchen, as a grunt came out with Mrs Farraday.

"We were just coming to look for you, Sir!" said the grunt. "Mrs Farraday wants to talk to you, and George has asked for you to be sent." he said. Lawrence turned towards Sue Farraday.

"Yes?" he asked her.

"Sir." she said, dropping to her knees in front of Lawrence. "I've been told you are to look after my daughters after the Plan? Fiona and Rachel?"

"Yes." he said. "I'll be given them in return for helping George do the Plan-if any of us survive, that is." he said, glancing up at the grunt.

"Can I join you, when you take them on?" she asked.

"What about if I put them in force-fields?" he said. "Will you want to see them like that. More to the point, as their mother, could I trust you not to try and release them?"

"I am, as you pointed out, their mother. Just being near them would be a comfort to me. I wouldn't try and release them except by gently trying to persuade you. You know my cooking is good! I could cook for you!"

"What about your husband, back on Shamouti island?" he said. "You'd be willing to just leave him there?"

"My children come first." She took his free hand, the one not holding Julie's leg-rope. "Please, please. Let me be near my daughters."

"Okay." he said. "You are a good cook, and I do have some compassion for you. Now I have to go and talk to George." He leaned over, gave Sue Farraday a peck on the cheek. "Later." he said.

"Uh-Sir." said the grunt. Lawrence gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, what is it? George is waiting for me, and he'll have your hide if I'm late because of you!" he said.

"What did you mean by "If any of us survive" Sir?"

"It's a war." said Lawrence. "We're going to be starting a war. There are casualties in every war. Even the victorious armies have soldiers die. We are a smaller group, and even with the Pokémon people on our side, that does not mean we will win. That's the ugly truth about war. There are always casualties. On both sides!" He walked off, leaving the grunt with something to think about.

He went to the operation room. A grunt was waiting outside, holding Fiona by her shoulders. "George said you'd be taking care of her." the grunt said. He pushed her towards him. "Go on, meet your new master." Fiona turned around and said a few words to the grunt, most of them rude. The grunt snarled, and before Lawrence could stop him, he struck her hard around the face. Lawrence grabbed her and held her protectively.

"How dare you!" he said. "This is an important part of the Plan! She's also going to be mine! I don't want any of the Pokémon people hurt, and the bird-people are doubly precious to me! Touch any of my bird-people again, and you'll regret it!" He picked up Fiona, and took her out. He took her into the kitchen, and inwardly sighed as he saw Mrs Farraday had recruited a couple of grunts to wash up for her.

"Fiona, I won't let him do that again!" he told her.

"Do what?" asked Mrs Farraday.

"Smack her around the face!" said Lawrence. "No, don't get angry, get even! How's about using some of that Moltres' Fury you brought to make some seriously strong Shamouti coffees?"

Rachel's mother smiled nastily. "Absolutely!" **We didn't bring any of Adele's hangover cure! What a shame! **she said psychically (and totally insincerely.)

"Hey boys!" she called over in a louder voice to the two grunts she had washing up. "Want some Shamouti coffee? It's got a drop of the hard stuff in it!"

"Yes please!" they called out. Mrs Farraday set to making many cups of Shamouti coffee, with amounts ranging from an eyedropper to a shot glass of Moltres' Fury in it, ranging from small amount to large amount from left to right. Donna volunteered to take them around, knowing to give the large amounts to the grunts they knew were nasty or couldn't be sure of, and smaller amounts to nice or indifferent grunts.

Lawrence, meanwhile, took Fiona to the grunt's sleeping area. "Lie down." he told her, and for the benefit of some grunts hanging about, he said "My beautiful, beautiful Moltres! How good you'll look with the other three! George has done a wonderful job, and I'm looking forwards to seeing my Zapdos when he's ready!" Lawrence then involved some of the other grunts in a game of poker, and when Donna reached them with the doctored coffees, he had a good enough idea of what the grunts were like to psychically direct her to serve the strongest of the Shamouti coffees to the nastiest of the grunts.

Half of them had retired for sleep or had to go off to work when a grunt told him George had Martin ready. He picked Martin up gently, and took him too into the grunt's sleeping area. George loudly asked for the boy like a Persian (whom Lawrence had seen, with the ears and tail of a Persian) to be brought to him. He saw John go by, and return with the sobbing child. After that, George asked for the girl with the Squirtle shell, the Vaporeon girl, and Keith the Electabuzz boy to be brought to him in that order. They were, but some of the grunts wondered why he took so many at once.

Some of the nastier grunts, those that weren't drunk, were having accidents. One mysteriously slipped, breaking his ankle. Another bumped his head so nastily George sent him to bed to rest. George had another one sent out with Mondo, the Raichu boy-the nastiest of the grunts. Mondo returned with the information that, with Mondo's help, the grunt had been subdued. It turned out he was wanted in connection with some local crimes involving small children, and so Officer Jenny had him well under control. Lawrence, under the pretext of "wanting to train the bird Pokemon people so they'd get to know me." had Rachel brought to him in the grunt's sleeping area, where Martin and Fiona were napping, and Julie sat by him, the pair of them kissing when the grunts weren't looking.

Later that evening, when the nastier grunts were incapacitated by alcohol or out of action due to accidents, George told everyone the Plan was off. He did so in the grunt's sleeping area, calling everyone in. There was a small attempt at revolt, but Keith and the Raichu girl (whom George had with him) thundershocked, as did Martin, and Julie blizzarded them. Donna called out her Houndoom and Umbreon, who growled. So they didn't revolt for long. they were reinforced minutes later after Mondo let everyone else out. His girlfriend, Carley, was unchanged, but the Houndoom George had planned to change her with, using it's parts, made sure nobody tried to go for her. Christy, the Venusaur girl, was ready to lash out with her vines, and her threat to Solarbeam quieted down those grunts who were still grumbling. Jenny turned up, with Colin. Colin had been sent out, they found out, on a spurious errand any grunt could have done, to get him out of the way. Then they were joined by what appeared to be a slip of a girl, but Lawrence could feel the raw psychic energy the girl had at her command.

**Yes, I had altered Mew brain tissue put in my brain. it gave me these remarkable powers. But George was scared of it, so he put subduing armour on, that I could use my abilities through, but with difficulty. Having originally been made for a psychic Pokémon, the armour rubbed me, but George has taken it off me, so I feel much better now! **she psychically told him. **If you're wondering why all those grunts had accidents, it was me. **Her psychic 'voice' turned bitter. **They're the ones who forgot to feed me and give me water. It was Karl, the Head Grunt, who checked on me and got me food and water!**

George approached Colin. He told him about his daughter, Amanda, and received a sock in the eye. He then went out, with Jenny the Jolteon girl, and returned with a little girl of about six or seven, with cheek pouches, Pikachu ears and a Pikachu tail. Half her body and the entirity of one arm were coated in Pikachu fur. She clung to her father.


End file.
